The World Adventure
by AST B-612
Summary: A novelization of Sonic Unleashed: Sonic, accompanied by Tails and newcomers Chip and Professor Pickle, must travel the world to restore the chaos brought upon it by Doctor Eggman and a mysterious creature he awakened. Meanwhile, something strange lurks underneath Sonic's skin, which Sonic must learn to grapple with and use to his advantage.
1. Chapter 1

It was his greatest creation.

He surveyed the landscape of his megaship. The platform and the robots atop it stretched beyond his range of vision. The glare of the lighting made it nearly impossible to see the stars. He counted forty robots of all sizes and strength on the platform. There were hundreds more in the interior of the ship, hidden away in corridors and deceptively empty lab rooms. Eighty-seven machine guns were at the ready, prepared to shoot at the slightest hint of movement.

Eggman, for the first time in what seemed like years, was proud. This was the largest self-sustaining carrier ship he had ever built. Its metallic frame, stretching hundreds of feet in length and berth, covered a wide range of the atmosphere and obstructed the view of (and destroyed, some intentionally, as he was feeling a particularly strong wave of trigger-happy euphoria) satellites. It was the largest carrier ship to survive in space, without the threat of atmospheric flame or the icy clutch of the stratosphere damaging it. The space colony ARK could not compare.

This was his creation. He had worked, tirelessly, for weeks. He had put forth effort as he had not had in many months. Certainly, his robots had helped with the assembly. But who had built them in the first place? It was rare when Eggman experience a sense of pride in creating something from his own hands, which did not experience when he took numerous shortcuts to build his inventions on time or when he built them at the expense of hundreds of people or hedgehogs.

Eggman, in a rush of good-feeling, threw back his hands and laughed. The back of his arms brushed against the surface of the wall in the control room where he was seated. It was rather tight in here, he realized. He probably should have thought about including more space when he had laid out the blueprints for the room. But it was of little importance. He had done it. It was built. His mind raced with the possibilities, the plans he could carry out with this carrier ship. As he knew, however, these plans would never be carried out. For now, however, he only needed to sit and wait. Wait for what he knew would come ev…

A blip on the screen flashed across the corner of his eye. The shock of it caused him to lean forward, looking first at the screen and then to the window in front of him. Sure enough, at the edge of the platform, stood… His surprise did not come from the fact that Sonic's arrival was unexpected, no, he had anticipated it. However, what he did not expect was that Sonic would arrive so…

_Quickly!_

The last hour had been non-stop activity. Sonic had felt the earth-shattering tremor as Eggman's thousand-ton carrier lifted off of the ground and flew into space. He ran, trying desperately to jump off as many story-high trees and buildings as possible to reach the carrier. His growing uncertainty of reaching the carrier was relieved when he found Tails searching for him on the Tornado. They flew together as high as they could without reaching the stratosphere, which both had learned from experience was a large no-no to the well-being of Tails' plane. From there, a satellite ship with two pilots offered to carry Sonic the rest of the way. Sonic spoke with the pilots, cracking jokes, but his heart was beating in his ears, his adrenaline in full tilt. Not in fear, but excitement. It was the first time in a while that Eggman had pulled off something this excessive. He was relieved that the two pilots were not fearful of the situation. The pilots were familiar with Eggman's schemes, having been rookies when Eggman had blasted the moon in half and had awakened the Shadow prototype, which had hurled itself into Earth. They knew what Eggman was capable of, but trusted from experience that the situation would be taken care of.

Once the carrier was in eye-shot, Sonic asked them to let him out. Despite the lessened sense of tension in this particular case, particularly with the weapon Sonic had in his arnesal, Sonic still wanted to keep the satellite and the pilots a good distance away from the carrier. They dropped him off on an idle satellite nearby. Sonic waved goodbye and watched as the satellite lowered itself to earth. Once out of sight, Sonic stared straight ahead. It was now or never. A string of satellites lead toward the nose of Eggman's carrier. Careful not to break them, Sonic leapt from satellite to satellite until he had reached the platform. He hopped on its metallic surface, and righted himself. After an hour of non-stop activity, of movement, of adrenaline, he let himself pause. It would be worth it. He could faintly see Eggman's frame from a round window at the top of the carrier. He waited. The robots had not yet detected his movement. Sonic watched through Eggman's body language as Eggman slowly realized that Sonic was there. Sonic watched as Eggman straightened up, threw his arm back, and pressed what seemed to be a button. This was it. The moment of silence was over.

A wave of missiles flew out of a compartment attached to a wall. Robots were lifted out from platforms hidden in the floor, metallic shields and gun up at the ready. Sonic had a second to react, which was more than enough time. He moved forward, destroying robots as they came up. He slid off of the metallic floor, pushing away a giant hand that threatened to crush him. He ran, the world becoming a blur. Instinct took over. He dodged, homing into robots, feeling the chill of metal on his quills. After destroying a group of robots, he looked up. Eggman had left the head of the carrier into a miniature egg-ship and then flew into the cockpit of a large robot. Sonic smirked.

_This just got interesting._

He ran until he caught Eggman's eye. He grinned, taking delight at Eggman's snarl.

"Yer not getting away!" Eggman shouted. He pulled a lever. Missiles shot out of the robot's hand, which Sonic quickly dodged. The missiles flew into surrounding robots and parts of the ships, destroying them.

No matter, Eggman thought. He had another idea. He pressed a second lever. The robotic arm, made with a series of flexible metallic coils, stretched itself, and began to reach for Sonic.

Sonic noticed and began to pick up his speed. He ran around the edge of one of the window, hoping to shake it off, but no such luck. Maybe this wouldn't be so easy to outrun.

_That's right, _Eggman sneered, taking pleasure at the growing realization on Sonic's face. He had installed a tracking device in the robot to match Sonic's speed and location, and the robot's ability to stretch itself, to his knowledge, could stretch for miles.

Realizing that he had to take another approach, Sonic spotted a tunnel, covered in part by a missile port and a gang of robots. He plowed through both and entered the tunnel. Eggman, not to be deterred, followed Sonic into the tunnel with the robotic hand. The tunnel went farther than Sonic thought. He turned around, amused the find that the robotic hand had stopped stretching. He grinned. This was easier than he thought. Unfortunately, he turned away a second too soon. The robotic hand, extending another coil, stretched, capturing the hedgehog with its metallic fingers. Too surprised to cry out, Sonic felt himself being thrust backward, out of the tunnel, until he was lifted by the robot's hand to the level of the cockpit, where Sonic could clearly see the face and frame of the Doctor.

Sonic growled, moving his head defiantly. Sonic felt the grip tighten on the robot, its fingers beginning to dig into his flesh. Eggman grinned, knowing he now had the upper-hand. It was now or never, Sonic realized. He needed to move quickly. Sonic, taking as deep of a breath as he could with the metallic arm on his abdomen, closed his eyes. Silently reciting the incantation he learned from Knuckles, he willed the Chaos Emeralds forward. Once he felt the Chaos Emeralds' energy first from inside, then crackling into the air around him, he let himself go limp. This was why Eggman's ship was not a threat. This is why Sonic knew he and his world would be safe. He only needed to act quickly.

Eggman's reaction was predictable. Unbeknownst to him, his hand lessened its grip on the lever until he tightened it with a greater thrust. His mouth hung open, his words cracking, faltering. He realized just how tight the mini egg-ship was.

"B-but, … how"

Sonic had now absorbed the Chaos Emeralds' power, becoming Super Sonic. The golden aura outshining the metallic glare on the ship, the Chaos energy surrounding Super Sonic caused the robotic hand to explode. Now free, Sonic turned, his red eyes directed right toward Dr. Eggman.

Eggman immediately pressed a button, released the mini-plane from the head of the robot, and flew away.

"Gotta… go," he grunted.

Sonic did not pursue him. He had other things to do, first. He speared forward, throwing himself into the interior of the ship, through every hallway, until he reached the engine. Rushing through the engine and bringing himself out at lightning speed, he watched as the ship exploded. Unlike the space colony ARK, it was too far in space for the ship or its pieces to get close to the earth's atmosphere. And according to one of the pilots of the satellite, a crew would be coming in tomorrow to pick up any stray scrap metal. It could not have worked out better.

Now for Eggman: Sonic sped forward, barely making out Eggman's plane as it flew into a smaller carrier separate from Eggman's main ship. Sonic followed Eggman into the entrance. The carrier followed a straight path until Eggman made a sharp turn. Sonic, losing sight of him, made the same turn, but was unable to find him. | What he did find was another engine, which he did not hesitate to destroy. Once out of the ship, Sonic caught a glimpse of a gray edge of plane flying into the tower of a last carrier.

_Why does Eggy need so many of these places? _Sonic thought. Deciding to do rather than dwell on it, he followed Eggman into its cone-shaped entrance. Sonic was happy to find that he was gaining on Eggman. The doctor, in his panic, steered erratically, causing the egg-ship to bounce off of the walls. Sonic thrust himself forward, knocking into Eggman's egg-ship. The egg-ship ejected him. The force of the blow caused Eggman to fly upward, then fall onto the metal floor of what seemed to be a lab room. Sonic did not really care to look. He was too focused on watching Eggman's reaction. He had not seen Eggman have a temper-tantrum in a while. It would be a welcome treat. If Eggman decided to throw in a cussing fit, some stomps of his foot, or even rip out a part of his mustache, which Sonic had had the pleasure of watching after Sonic had destroyed the Egg Viper a few years ago, it would make the viewing experience all the better.

A small part of him, however, squirmed uncomfortably. He knew he didn't have the time to stand around and gloat. He needed to find a way to get Eggman back into the egg-ship so he could destroy the last carrier. Once he did that, he and Eggman would be forced to go back to earth, where Eggman would hopefully be caught and arrested by G.U.N. Sonic wondered if it would be better to leave Eggman in the carrier when he destroyed it, but immediately shook away the idea. He wanted absolutely no part of what could be Eggman's demise, feeling that if Eggman were ever destroyed, it would be by his own doing. Also, he felt that it would be more satisfying if Eggman were arrested than if he was martyred for his craft, so to speak.

He was jangled out of his thoughts by a loud cry. Eggman was on his knees, hands clasped together.

"Pl-please don't hurt me!"

This was not the reaction Sonic was expecting. Had he seen it before? Yes, but he thought at the destruction of Eggman's largest carrier to date he would see some steam, not crocodile tears. Anyway, Sonic decided to keep watching.

"I'll t-turn over a new leaf, I swear! Just give me a chance!"

A chance, huh? And when had that ever worked out?

This was too good of an opportunity to miss. A cocky smile spread across his face. What was a minute or two, anyway? Wouldn't it be worth it to rub it in his face, just a little?

"Well, this is new. Showing remorse, Eggman? If you played nice, I wouldn't have to break all of your toys."

A minute or two, as it turned out, was long enough. Eggman grinned, feeling the smooth surface of the button across his thumb, the button he had hidden in his sleeves, waiting for the moment they had reached this room. In order for the plan to be carried out, he had depended on predictability: he knew Sonic would follow him into space, that he would use the seven Chaos Emeralds to transform and to destroy each of his carrier ships. Eggman knew that if he hesitated on the third carrier and let himself be trapped that Sonic would stop. Eggman also knew that his plea for mercy would fuel Sonic's love for his insipid quips, and that alone would keep him in the room. Now that everything was in place, that Sonic's predictable behavior had brought him this far, Eggman knew that he could move on to the grand finale. No longer having to wait, no longer having to wedge himself into tight spaces. He could press the button.

Several things happened at that moment. Eggman pressed the button, which caused several lasers to lower from the ceiling and create a circle of pulsating, dark energy. The section of the floor Eggman was kneeling on rose in the air, allowing him to enter a cove with a window, separating himself from Sonic and the lasers. The force of the energy pulled Sonic into the center of the lasers.

It had happened so quickly Sonic had no time to react. He had thought for a moment he had glimpsed Eggman's sly grin, and alarms instantly rang in his brain. However, he had no time to process it. At blistering speed, he found himself thrust into the center of the room, surrounded by purple beams of energy. Sonic tried to escape, move his legs, but he found they were bound in place. He tried to move anything on his body, his hands, his fingers, but the energy seemed to take hold of any independent movement.

For a moment, he felt an uncharacteristically strong sense of unease, a sense of apprehension and insecurity that made Sonic want to curl into a ball, into himself. It wouldn't last. The next second, pain like he had never felt first pierced his body, then wracked it. The beams seemed to have entered his veins, sending volts through his bones and underneath his skin. The pain existed inside and outside of him. There was no way to escape. He screamed, though he felt the energy open his mouth, prompting his vocal chords to respond. He found his limbs flailing, his back arching, the energy controlled his movements, determined how he responded to the pain that it wracked. He had lost all control. He felt the energy that he had gathered as Super Sonic, the energy from the Chaos Emeralds, and the energy that made his own being absorbed, stripped away until the dark energy had overtaken it.

Eggman was wild with glee at what was in front of him. His building the carrier paled to transparency in comparison to the success he had now. This was the accumulation of all that he had hoped: having the power of the Chaos Emeralds in his grasp, seeing the one person who had fought to resist him for so long incapacitated, and power. More power than he could have ever dreamed of or hoped for. At this very moment, he knew that the power was at work, wreaking havoc on the spherical planet below him, and knew that the chaos would not touch him. He owed all of it – well, most of it anyway, to a document that he had found in an ancient temple.

"It was just as the Gaia manuscripts foretold!" Eggman shouted aloud. The carrier was disposable. Knowing he now had the tool that would bring him control of the world in this room was worth thousands of self-sustaining carriers.

It could not have worked out better.

Sonic felt himself flop to the ground. The Chaos energy had been completely sapped away. He could not say that the pain was lessening, but the blinding nothingness, the incapacity for thought that the energy had brought was fading. He felt himself gradually becoming coherent, as though his mind was coming into sharp focus. With that was the realization he was trembling.

No, not trembling. It was as though his something was in motion underneath his skin, ready to break through. Sonic stretched his arm forward, unsure of how to contain the energy. It threatened to take over him, and Sonic wanted nothing released that sought to have complete control over a person.

The energy gave him no choices in the matter. In a series of waves, the energy took over. First in bursting his skin, then in molding his face and limbs, culminating into a roar. Something inside of Sonic felt defeated, exhausted, silenced. The purple energy disappeared from view. The lasers on the ceiling sparked, then stopped completely. Though the energy had dispersed, Sonic could feel some of its after-effects. He felt as though he was carrying a heavy weight, the weight causing him to crouch. His jaw felt strange, his breath ragged. Then he remembered Eggman: he did this to him, whatever it was. He looked up, revulsion and anger causing his words to come slowly.

"You've…really gone and done it this time, Eggman."

Eggman had not seen this coming. Nowhere in the yellowing documents had he read did it say that the Gaia energy had the potential to transform sentients. This could be beneficial to him, he realized. It may provide Sonic the added distraction that he needed. Though Eggman was certain that the earth being broken apart would have taken up Sonic's time enough, what was one more setback? One more thing to prevent Sonic from causing him trouble?

"That's a new look for you, festive!" Eggman remarked, keeping his voice intentionally lighthearted, hoping to incite the frustration in the hedgehog that could no longer hurt him.

Sonic did not know what Eggman was babbling about, and was sure that he didn't care. Fury rose within him like a poison. He wanted to move, to attack. Before he could act on it, he found himself being sucked backward. Eggman had opened the window in the back of the lab. Sonic struggled to grasp onto something, anything. He grabbed onto a section of the floor that had been indented in order to keep the energy beams from the lasers from spilling over. Sonic looked at his hand. The shock at what he saw caused him to lose his grip. Before he could react, before even a semblance of a thought could form in his mind, he found himself being hurled into space, and with the depleted Chaos Emeralds around him, fell to earth.


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic had broken through the earth's atmosphere, the sky turning from an inky black to gray. The lack of oxygen was making him lightheaded and unable to keep his eyes open. He took a deep breath, realizing that he had stopped falling. Sonic shook himself awake, feeling a rush of adrenaline. He found out that he had not landed on the ground, but was hovering in midair, surrounded by what looked like a bubble with green edges. Sonic tentatively reached out one claw, wondering what the bubble was made of, and how long it could hold him. As though it had read his thoughts and wanted to spite him, the bubble disappeared. Sonic hung in the air, quickly realizing that there was nothing separating him from the ground below. He fell, screaming until he made contact with the ground. At first, he only felt the sting of the impact of hard ground on his face, then he felt damp dirt, then smelled grass. This was not the first time he had broken ground, so to speak. He knew how to handle this.

He first took his arms, which were thankfully above ground, and pressed down, gently trying to ease his head out of the ground. It did not work. He pulled harder, achieving nothing until he felt parts of the ground beginning to break. Only a little m- _Wham! _The force of his head leaving the ground caused him to recoil, cricking his neck. He rubbed his head, then his neck. Noticing gray fur on his arm, he moved it up to his eyes. His arm was wider than his torso, and covered, matted with a thick layer of gray fur. His gloves had been ripped off during his tenure with the lasers, and his hands had turned into claws with hairless fingers and long, sharp fingernails. He placed his hand on his face and ran it across his jaw. His face still stung from the transformation and its recent meeting with the ground. He felt his mouth. Fangs. Those were not there before.

_What was in those lasers?_

Sonic looked down. He appeared to have grown several inches and his arms and torso had expanded, which explained why he had felt heavy after the infusion. His shoes had changed as well. They had grown larger, darker with spikes at the end. He was not sure how or why the energy would change his style of footwear of all things. There was a lot of things he was unsure of about this energy. Was it permanent? Would he stay like this foreve…?

His last question hung, unasked, as he saw a small figure lying on the ground. The figure was small, fur a rusty red with tufts of white on its head and chest. Translucent wings stuck from its back. It did not move. Sonic looked from the figure to the giant, hedgehog-shaped crater he had made. The two were eerily close.

"Did I fall on him?"

Hoping he was wrong, Sonic ran up to the creature and gently poked its back with one finger.

"Hey," he murmured, "are you OK?"

He waited. Silence. "Nothing broken?"

Whether anything was broken or not, the creature did not or could not respond. Sonic became worried. Suddenly, the creature's leg twitched. It groaned.

Sonic gently picked it up by its leg, turning it upside down. As much as Sonic had freed small animals in the past, he did not have a lot of experience in first aid. Tails, if he were with him, would have probably explained that picking up a creature by its leg and giving it a shake was not the best way to care for a creature that was most likely injured. After that, Tails probably would have made a mental note to enroll Sonic in some first aid class at the Station Square community center.

"Pull yourself together!" Concern edged into his voice. His words sounded harsh. He did not mean for them to be. The creature's groans started to form what sounded like words. Sonic leaned closer to hear it.

"…uuuggh, can't…eat…another…bite."

Sonic started, too surprised to laugh. Was this creature crazy or something? Had the fall addled his brain? The creature opened its eyes, glazed from disorientation. The creature found himself looking downward, at a pair of red shoes. Its gaze traveled upward, up the chest and torso of the thing that held him until it found itself staring into green eyes and an impressive set of fangs.

"Wuuh ahh ah ah!"

The creature started to write, its wings flapping furiously, lifting itself up. Sonic quickly let the creature go, unsure of how many more surprises he could take.

The creature flew behind a rock at a good distance from the hedgehog, and tentatively peered out from it.

At that moment, Sonic felt more irritated than offended. If this guy was hurt or addled in any way, he would need to find it help, and quickly. They did not have time to be standing around.

"Are you OK?" he asked again. His voice sounding strained, raspy. He cleared his throat, which did absolutely nothing. The creature peered out again, staring at Sonic as though making a decision. It finally flew away from the rock and popped in front of Sonic without a trace of fear.

"I'm doing just fine! Thanks for asking, Mister Monster-Guy!" The creature's cheery response when a moment ago it had been trembling behind a rock, and its referring to him by the less-than-flattering title did nothing to alleviate Sonic's concerns.

Sonic looked at it. Its eyes were clear, bright, without any sign of disorientation or glazing over. It seemed to be flying well, not losing its balance. So it was not seriously injured, from what he could see. But really? …

"Mister…Monster-Guy?"

He took another look at his arm, at the claw that looked completely foreign to him.

"…Guess things have gotten pretty ugly."

Had to find some way of making light of the situation. He rubbed his nose, surprised to find that it had the same length and shape.

He turned to look at the creature.

"Who are you, anyway?"

The creature opened its mouth to answer. Its face faltered, twitched, and then blanched in horror. Before Sonic could react, the creature started to fly in circles, panic causing his voice to rise.

"I don't knowwww! I don't know who I am!"

Scared the creature would become hysterical, and could hurt himself even more, Sonic gently walked into the circle where the creature was swaying frenzily and picked him up.

"You forgot who you are?" Sonic kept his voice even, trying to maintain eye contact with the creature, trying to get it to relax. The creature looked at him.

"I remember falling, feeling something heavy, and then everything going all white!" The creature had tried to imitate Sonic's even tone of voice, but it rose slightly at 'all white.'

Well, that pretty much said it, Sonic realized. He must have fallen on the creature when he had landed.

"Well here," Sonic said, letting go of the creature. "There must be someone around here who knows you," _and who has a medical license. _Sonic added inwardly, "maybe we can find out who you are!"

The creature's eyes widened in delight. "That's great! Um, ah…" The creature hesitated. Sonic realized that it was looking for his name. Relieved to be called anything besides Mister Monster-Guy, Sonic spoke.

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog."

At that moment, the sky turned from gray to a light blue. The sun rose over the horizon, shining over the patch of field where Sonic and the creature were standing. As the sunlight hit his skin, something inside of him seemed to recoil, but it only lasted for a moment. The dark energy seemed to escape from his skin, engulfing him in a purple aura. Then it disappeared. What surprised Sonic the most was that the energy did not take his sense of self with it. Sonic no longer felt that his consciousness was fighting against an unseen enemy. He was completely his own again.

He stared at his glove, his mouth agape. How the hell did his gloves come back? His arm also appeared normal. And his shoes! Those were normal, too. Unsure of how to process it, Sonic diverted his attention to something else. He noticed a windmill close by for the first time. He inferred from that that there must be some sort of population nearby.

"Shall we go?" Sonic asked, giving the creature a wink to show that he was the same person who had picked him up.

"Wooow..." the creature murmured, its eyes widening. It nodded. Sonic started to walk forward, until he realized he had forgotten something. He walked up to a pile of scattered rocks and picked them up. The Chaos Emerald, drained of their power, had made the trek down space unharmed, but altered, like him. Once he got them, Sonic went on, the creature flying beside him.


	3. Chapter 3

** Yoo! Hope you like this so far. For clarification, Chip doesn't get his name until this chapter, hence the "creature" and "its" in the story are referring to Chip. Aight, just a quick note. Thanks for reading, ya'll!

It was mid-morning, judging by the sunlight, when Sonic and the creature stumbled upon a seaside village. From the structure and the white material with which the buildings were constructed, Sonic realized that they must be someplace in Greece. Apotos, to be exact, from the sign they passed several minutes ago. It was disconcerting. Yesterday at this time, Sonic had been in Station Square, on a completely different continent. He had traveled to different countries over the course of a day before, so while it felt strange, it was not outside his realm of experience. As Sonic looked around, he noticed that the streets were empty. He expected more people to be about. It still was the morning, however.

It had been a crazy night. In the past twelve hours, he had traveled to space, took down two of Eggman's greatest carriers, been tricked and paralyzed by Eggman and had transformed into… something. He held the colorless Emeralds in his hand, wondering how to restore the energy to them. When Chaos in its perfect form had attacked Station Square, the emeralds had looked just as void of power, but had contained the purer form of their energy, which Chaos had not been able to access. Maybe the same thing had happened here. Sonic cupped the emeralds more tightly in his hand, trying to catch any sense of energy. Nothing.

_Well, what now? _Sonic did not even know where to start. He guessed the best course of action would be to find a way to restore the energy back to the Chaos Emeralds. Did that mean they would have to go back to Eggman's ship? Did he have the energy from the Chaos Emeralds? How he would use or abuse that power was something Sonic did not have the patience to dwell on. Better to move forward. He took the Chaos Emeralds and started to absentmindedly juggle them. Moving helped. Talking helped, too.

"What do you figure that was all about?" he asked the creature as they passed a marble overhead leading into a small section of the village. "The hair, and those arms…and what happened to the Chaos Emeralds!?"

The creature was less preoccupied with the enormity of the situation. It flittered around, alternating between floating on its stomach and its back.

"Is this what you uuusually look like?" it asked.

Sonic looked down at his arms, his body. He had been getting leaner, his stomach and chest becoming more streamlined with the rest of his body rather than sticking out. His form was the picture of health, having enough weight to make him look not like a stick but not too much weight as to impede him when he ran. His shoes, which he had cleaned the day before, still retained their shine, to his surprise and faint delight. His body, his shoes, reflected who he was. His shape reflected the discipline he had put into running. The muscles developing within his arms and legs showed his endurance, his readiness to take on anything that was thrown at him. He grinned.

"Yeah, this is the real me!" He caught the Chaos Emerald in his outstretched hand and struck a pose, because why not? He liked who he was, his experiences and inward passion manifesting itself in how he looked on the outside. This was who he was, and he couldn't let anyone take that from him. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Sonic looked to his side, where the creature had been before. The creature was not there. For a moment, Sonic worried that the concussion that the creature had certainly gotten had become worse, causing the creature to wander away.

"Huh? Where'd you go?"

He then spotted the creature up ahead. It was floating in front of a vendor stand, looking at something. Sonic felt slightly hurt. The creature had been completely nonplussed by his bravado. And it was an awesome pose, too.

Sonic got closer. The vendor was parked in an open area of the village. The creature was making a low noise in its throat, which grew louder as Sonic approached the stand. Sonic realized that the creature was moaning by a dessert that towered nearly a foot in height, topped with vanilla ice cream, chocolate shavings, and an enormous wafer that pierced its middle. In addition, a series of cherries and chocolate pieces surrounded each of the swirls, culminating to a single cherry that sat regally atop a mound of whipped cream. It was the single most indulgent object Sonic had ever seen, and he had had over a decade of fighting Eggman's ridiculously superfluous creations.

"Looks good, don't it?" The bearded vendor inquired, his voice hinted amusement at the creature's reaction toward the dessert.

The creature nodded, its eyes refusing to leave the dessert.

"That there Chocolate Chip Cream Sundae Supreme is the pride of the city," the vendor explained, though Sonic was sure the creature was not listening to a word that the vendor said.

The vendor chuckled at the creature's reaction.

"The whole world could come tumbling down, and they'll still line up for a taste!" To top off that appealing description, the vendor took a handful of chocolate shavings and sprinkled them on the dessert.

The creature's yearning for the dessert grew even more prominent and disturbing. It began to flit from side to side, saying "Mmmmm!"

"Chocolate…Chip…Sundae Supremeeeee!" the creature exclaimed. OK, Sonic realized, so the creature had at least paid attention to the name of the dessert.

The vendor took the dessert off of the stand and held it in his fist. He waved the dessert in front of the creature's face, allowing the creature to get as close to the dessert as possible without taking or tasting it.

"Enjoy it, kiddo!" The vendor invited, teasing the dessert by moving it from side to side. "Satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back!" The creature's moans increased as it helplessly followed the dessert's direction.

_Are you serious? _Sonic, still standing a distance away from the vendor station, mentally shook his head in disbelief. What kind of sick person derives pleasure from waving a dessert in front of a thing's face? He did not get it.

Sonic decided he couldn't watch this happening anymore. He chose to pull the creature away from the schadenfreudeic vendor.

"HEYY!" He called out, waving his arms frantically to get the creature's attention. The creature did not respond, though Sonic thought he saw a slightly guilty expression cross the creature's face.

"WHAT ABOUT YOUR MEMORIES?" Sonic shouted. The creature paused, conflicted. Sonic sighed. He walked up to the booth.

The vendor diverted his attention from torturing the creature to look up at Sonic.

"Ah, hello there, Sonic!"

Sonic was still caught off guard when strangers knew his name, even more so that they treated him as though they had seen each other every day.

"I'm supposing you're here because of the incident that happened here last night," the vendor continued.

_Incident? _Something inside Sonic squirmed nervously at the word. Did this incident involve Eggman doing something horrific with the Chaos Energy? Or even with the dark energy? Sonic decided not to run away with the idea so quickly. It could very well be nothing. The vendor had not given him any indication so far that he was credible, or sane for that matter. However, Sonic decided to take the bait.

"What incident?" he asked.

The vendor's eyes widen. "You mean, you haven't heard about it? It's been everywhere! I don't think a single part of earth has avoided it! How did you miss it?"

Sonic found his eyes glazing over. It was very possible that he had missed it because he had not been on earth for the past twelve hours. He shrugged.

"Dunno. What happened, exactly?"

The vendor shook his head in amazement.

"Something strange. No one can explain it. Definitely not me. I'm no good with details. Anyway, an earthquake came and… well, and people said it's like something ripped a part of the ground in half. We lost one of our oldest shipping boats because of it. And since then, no one's been able to contact the rest of the world. Electricity, satellites are down."

_And he's here selling ice cream? _Sonic couldn't help thinking. Suddenly, the fact that the roads had been empty made sense. Maybe the villagers had gone to investigate the hole, or had traveled away to try to contact people elsewhere, or had evacuated the village completely. In any case, they probably were not going about their usual routines.

"Do you know where this tear is at?" Sonic asked, wanting to take any sort of action. If this "tear" had anything to do with Eggman and the dark energy, he wanted to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.

"Not too far away from here. It's just over that hill there, below the cadenza with the bell on it." The vendor said. He pointed west.

Sonic nodded. "Good to know."

Sonic started to say his thanks and leave the booth when he noticed that the creature was still staring longingly at the dessert. The vendor looked at the creature and chuckled again.

"He a friend of yours?" he asked.

Sonic nodded a second time.

The vendor looked at the creature, then at Sonic.

"Come now," the vendor said, "you don't want to torment this guy more than he has been already, do ya?"

_You mean like you have? _Sonic wanted to say, but stopped himself.

Sonic looked at the creature. The creature stared back at Sonic with a pleading look in its eye.

Sonic sighed inwardly. What would it hurt? He had some money from Station Square, but he was almost certain that this place had a far different currency. He pulled out the money.

"I don't think this is the same type of money that's in your country, but"-

"Oh no," the vendor said, waving his hand in a dismissive manner, "I, er, have some friends who are from your country that have given me money. Not a problem at all!"

Sonic handed him the money, and the vendor put the dessert in the creature's outstretched arms. The vendor then turned around, pulled out an identical-looking sundae and handed it to the hedgehog.

Sonic was about to protest, but the vendor interrupted.

"Nope, it's on me! Figured it's the least I could do, since you've saved our butts more than once!"

Sonic was not sure what to say, or even sure if he wanted the sundae in the first place. But the vendor's generosity surprised him, and he nodded his thanks.

"'Course, kiddo!" The vendor said, his eyes softening for a moment. He turned to the creature, who had taken a bite from one of the chocolate pieces and closed its eyes in delight, and the vendor laughed.

"Now, you both go on and do what you do best!"

Sonic nodded again, waved, and he and the creature walked toward the hill.

Sonic decided to take it slow, so he and the creature could finish their sundaes and possibly find someone who recognized the creature. The streets were still empty, which made Sonic feel uneasy, as though the villagers had disappeared overnight.

"Mmmm, this chip stuff is good!" the creature said, its mouth full of ice cream.

Even more difficult to understand than the vendor with his perchance for torturing his costumers was the creature's ardent love for his dessert. Sonic didn't get it. He wasn't really a sweets person. Chili dogs were more to his taste.

"If you say so," he responded.

He looked at the sundae. It still felt indulgent to him. Sonic never liked taking more than he needed. He knew how to survive. He pushed his body to be exactly what it needed to be. He only wore what he needed (wearing it with style, of course) but kept away from anything extra. He had spent most of his life fighting against a man whose entire life was excessive. From his weight, his wide-range destruction, the massive piles of robots he would simultaneously create and dispose of when they no longer served his purposes. Why would anybody want to live like that? Don't you enjoy things more when you have just enough? Sonic took a bite of the ice cream. Just enough.

Sonic looked ahead. So this was the plan: they would look around the village, see if anyone knew the creature (or if anyone existed here in the first place), go to the "tear" that the vendor had told them about and find out if Eggman was behind it.

He caught a glance of the creature, who was halfway through his sundae. It at least looked happy and alert, and if it was eating, then a concussion did not really seem likely. Sonic, out of the corner of his eye, noticed something dripping off of his glove. In a moment that Sonic could only describe as his brain leaving the door, he wondered if his glove was melting. He then realized it was coming from the sundae, and he quickly licked away the rapidly melting area. At this rate, the sundae would be a lavishly decorated puddle by the time he and the creature reached the "tear." Maybe Chip could finish it for him, Sonic laughed. Wait…

Chip? Where did that come from? He looked at the rusty red Chihuahua next to him, who had popped a chocolate chip in his mouth and chewed it with an expression that could only be described as pure contentment.

Well, it definitely seemed to suit it, at least Sonic thought so. He wanted to call it something, and he hated the word "it." No creature was an "it."

"Are we going to the hill now?" the creature asked.

Sonic kept his face as nonplussed as possible. "Yeah, and while we're on the way, let's see if anyone knows you here, Chip."

The creature stopped as Sonic continued to walk forward.

"Chip…" it whispered.

Sonic realized that the creature had stopped and turned around.

"Have to call you something, don't I?" He looked at the creature. "What do you think?"

"Chip…Chip…" The creature let the name roll of its tongue, it looked at the mostly-eaten sundae and grinned.

"Chip! Yeah, I love it!"

Chip spun around and held out its hand. Sonic, always being down for a high-five, smacked hands with Chip and they kept going.

Chip had completely scarfed down his dessert and Sonic had thrown away his unfinished, not before letting Chip have a few massive bites before he realized that no one was in the area. Which meant it was time to check out the hill.

Sonic made sure to tell Chip what the creature was getting into.

"Ready to speed things up?"

Chip nodded, not really sure what Sonic meant.

"I like to run, and fast! Let me know if you can keep up!"

Chip nodded, suddenly understanding. "Yeah, I can keep up!" It gestured to its wings. Sonic nodded. He had learned from Tails that people he knew with flying abilities seemed to catch up with him pretty well, and they often did not need to put in as much effort. Sonic wondered if this was because the wind carried them forward, in much the same way that he could sometimes manipulate the wind to propel him to greater speeds.

"Right on!" Sonic said. He grinned and pointed to the hill, which looked like a pointed dot in the distance.

He stretched and went into a running stance. Chip came by his side, wings flapping.

"Here…we…GO!"


	4. Chapter 4

Sonic sped forward, reaching several hundred miles per hour within a few seconds. He had never run through here before. Each time he ran through an unfamiliar place he had to break into it, like a pair of new shoes. He had to familiarize himself with the toughness of the cobblestone against his feet, the sharp turns, the narrowness of the roads, the close gaps between rooftops. Feeling more exhilarated than he had in a while, he forgot his worries and threw himself into the run.

Sonic saw the goal post in the distance (after a few minutes running and having scaled near two dozen miles by that point). He pushed himself as he sped over the hill and stopped with a contented sigh as he saw the cadenza with the bell. He heard Chip panting beside him. He walked toward the cadenza, then stopped as he realized that he and Chip were not alone.

What appeared to be most of the village was standing on or below the cadenza, on the rocky shore surrounding the water. A news crew holding cameras and microphones also surrounded the water. They were all looking at something. Sonic hopped nimbly onto the railing that lined either side of the path leading to the cadenza and jumped up, landing on top of the cadenza next to the bell. He leaned against it while Chip fluttered across from him and they looked down below.

The purple aura first caught Sonic's eye. Then the deep, jagged tear that stretched for miles, passing Sonic's range of sight. The tear started at the shore and continued along the sea, the purple aura pulsated, surging with something that looked like electricity. The water was pressed along the sides of the aura, never pouring inside of the tear. Sonic was glad to have some distance from it. Considering his past experience with the energy, he was not keen on getting more exposure on it. He figured that Eggman was behind the tear somehow, but wasn't sure how. Had Eggman done this before he threw him out of the carrier?

Always in his quest to keep moving, Sonic decided to get down to the shore. He would kill two birds with one stone: get more information about the tear by asking the people what they saw, and see if any of them knew Chip.

He jumped down and walked up to a woman who was holding a microphone.

"Excuse me," he said in a low voice, to not interrupt the other cameramen. "Do you know where this came from?"

The woman, startled, turned to look at the hedgehog. Unbeknownst to Sonic, one of the cameramen had seen Sonic, and whispering excitedly to his coworker, had turned the camera on him and the woman holding the microphone.

The woman chuckled nervously. "I am usually the one who asks those questions," she said. "I don't feel like I would be any help. I did not see it happen, but I do have a friend, she lives in the third floor of those buildings there," she pointed to a series of buildings with square windows, "who said she heard something that sounded like an explosion in the middle of the night. Actually, she said it sounded like someone had put a bomb underground and it blew up. She looked out her window, and saw the purple light coming from the sea. She was going to call me to tell me to tell my boss, but her phone or her laptop wouldn't work, so she ran to my house at 5 in the morning. When I was on the way to my boss's house to tell him, he was already on his way to my house with the rest of the crew. Apparently a huge crowd had come to his house and panicked because they had felt the earthquake, seen the light, but couldn't use their phones or email to tell him. So, we came here. We've been here all day, but I have no idea where it came from. Nobody does, and we can't contact anybody who would."

Sonic nodded. He felt suddenly conflicted, unsure of whether to tell the woman of what he knew or whether he should wait to get more information and risk not worrying the villagers. He decided that some information was better than none.

"You mean…" the woman said, after Sonic had explained to her about the energy Eggman had stored and used in his carrier. He kept out the part about Eggman using the energy on him and then proceeding to throw him out of space.

"Oh my god!" She turned around, trying to get the attention of the cameramen. "Did you hear that?" she asked one of the cameramen who had started to record their conversation. He nodded. She faced the camera.

"We have word from none other than Sonic the Hedgehog himself that Eggman may have been behind this incident that took our longest-standing boating house and has terrified and confused countless of our residents. Investigation will begin once we regain electricity, which was mysteriously lost after this appeared on the water."

She then began to report something in a language that Sonic could only assume was Greek. Once she finished, she indicated something to the cameraman with a nod, and the cameraman turned the camera away from her and started to film the tear in the water.

She turned to Sonic. "Thank you for telling us what you know. I'm sure that wasn't easy for you." Sonic nodded.

"This has shaken up our entire world," she said. "Nothing like this has ever happened to us before. I'm just glad no one was hurt. We'll make sure to get to the bottom of this. And I'm positive this isn't the only place that this has happened." The reporter stared out in disbelief at the water before turning back to Sonic.

"Your word is very valuable to us, and anything we can do to help you, let us know."

Sonic nodded. He turned to look at Chip, who was looking out at the water with some confusion, his hand on his mouth. He then had an idea.

"I…found my friend here" (Sonic purposely left out the fact that he had found Chip most likely after crushing him) "and he doesn't remember who he is or where he came from. Have you seen him before, or know anyone who has?"

She looked at Chip closely, smiling after Chip, who, after realizing someone was talking about him, turned around, looked at the reporter, and grinned nervously.

"He's adorable," she said. "I would have remembered someone that cute. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him before. But I'll ask around, and you're more than welcome to ask people here, too."

"Thanks, and thank you for your help, too!" Sonic said. He turned to leave when the reporter stopped him.

"Before you go, I have one more question." Sonic stopped.

"How did you find out about what happened in our village? From what I know, we've been cut off from the rest of the world for a while."

Sonic told the reporter about being thrown out of space by Dr. Eggman, by landing near the windmill, and by talking with the ice cream vendor.

The reporter scrunched her nose when Sonic mentioned the dessert vendor.

"He's a strange fellow," she said. "He moved here four months ago, but he claims that his ice cream is a staple of the city. And he always sets his tent where the least amount of people are. I feel like he would get more business if he were here by the shore. Might be good for morale, you know? I find the man strange, personally, but his ice cream is delicious."

Chip nodded, "mmhmm"-ing in agreement.

She looked at them both, smiling with a brief, tender look in her eye before saying: "Well, I'll let you go, but stay safe, and let us know if you both need anything at all!"

"We will," Sonic said quietly, flashing her a grin. "Thanks!"

The woman smiled back, then her face faltered.

"I hate to say this," she said, her eyes shifting guiltily to the side. "But you have some…" she rubbed her hand against the corner of her mouth. Sonic started, then took his hand and also wiped the corner of his mouth. His glove was stained with vanilla ice cream and flecks of cherry juice.

_Dear God…_

"I'm so sorry," she said quietly.

He realized she must have taken his horrified expression as resentment toward her, not embarrassment at his own lack of self-awareness. He wanted to show her as quickly as possible he wasn't angry at her. "No no no, it's totally cool!" he laughed. "Plus, I wouldn't have wanted to walk around with this stuff on my face, right?" Her face relaxed. Sonic wanted to show her that he was being completely sincere. "Thank you for letting me know," he said, meaning every word.

Any visible shame on the woman's face had vanished. She smiled back at him. "You're welcome." Once they had exchanged nods and grins, she moved to the side to let Sonic and Chip past her and the camera crew.

Sonic and Chip spent the next hour asking residents near the water if had seen or knew Chip. Most of them shook their heads and gave confused half-smiles as Chip tried to find ice cream or chocolate syrup to lick off of the corners of his mouth. Many of the residents were too preoccupied with the tear to answer. Some of them did not speak English at all. Everyone was friendly, though distracted. Sonic could not blame them. What could this energy do? Could it do something even worse than ripping a hole in the water?

"Sonic…um, Sonic?" Sonic jumped as he realized that Chip was calling him. Sonic turned to look at him.

"What do we do now?" Chip asked.

Sonic had no idea. They had gone to the cadenza, seen the destruction that Eggman had certainly caused, and had asked countless residents who Chip was. There was not anything left to do at this point, except to find a place to stay for the night (it was already past afternoon) and look out for more information about the energy, about Eggman's whereabouts.

He grinned, knowing that both he and Chip would dig his suggestion: "Let's get something to eat."

After finding a restaurant nearby and having chicken and psomi, Sonic and Chip walked back to the opening in the city where they had first met the vendor. The setting sun colored the road golden and caused the streetlights to gleam.

Sonic walked through the empty streets slowly, his hands over his head. He felt strangely relaxed. Adrenaline still rushed through his system, but at a noticeably slower pace. Not enough to let him feel the tiredness he knew would come inevitably. He looked around, noticing more of the city than he had before. He saw an alleyway to his right, with an entrance wreathed in plants and pink flowers.

He suddenly turned to Chip, who was somehow trotting even though he was in midair. He lowered himself to the ground, his ears falling sadly to each side.

"Still no luck finding someone who knows me," he said softly. Sonic remembered how both the ice cream man and the news reporter had known him by sight. He never considered how that had made Chip feel. Sonic did not care for the attention, but he also wondered what it would be like to want someone to recognize him and them not being able to.

Sonic nodded, acknowledging Chip's concern.

"Don't worry about it!" Sonic said lightly, hoping an alternative suggestion would make Chip feel better. "Maybe your memory will come back on its own. Do you remember anything yet?"

Chip stopped. Considered. Shook his head. "Nope," he said.

"Oh well." Sonic slowed down as something caught his eye. "Maybe we'll have more luck tomorrow."

He stopped and looked up as he realized that the streetlights had turned on. Wait, he realized, if the streetlights were on, that meant that the electricity must have come back. As though on cue, the windows in the surrounding buildings and houses flooded with light. He stared at one of the streetlight's florescent glare, wondering if the reporter would be able to contact someone who would know more about what was happening.

Suddenly, the same unsettling feeling of unease he had experienced on Eggman's carrier before the transformation fluttered in his abdomen. Before he had time to react, the flutter exploded into pain. He gasped.

"Sonic?" Sonic heard Chip ask in concern.

Claws grasped at his chest and underneath his skin. Sonic crouched, trying to keep the power from taking over him. He screamed, then howled as he burst into his new form, the purple aura that had appeared around him dissipated into the dark.

He panted, unable to catch his breath. His bones hurt, his limbs felt weak, unsteady, as though he had been in bed for a week. Out of the corner of his mind, Sonic grew worried. This had been so much more painful than the last time that had happened. As melodramatic as it sounded, he was unsure if he could survive the next one, if the pain increased.

"Whoa…" Chip began, following it with the most anticlimactic statement in history: "Mister Monster-Guy is back!"


	5. Chapter 5

Sonic was finally able to breath evenly. He let air fill his lungs as he opened his eyes, eyeing his strange form again.

"…So when the sun goes down," he thought aloud, unable to keep the fear out of his voice, "I turn into _this_?"

_Whatever the hell "this" was…_

"Are you OK Sonic?" Chip asked hesitantly.

Sonic nodded. He could say with confidence that he wasn't dying, so that was something, right?

"I'm fine," he answered. He thought about the terror in the residents' eyes when they had seen the tear in the water, and did not feel that their seeing a five-foot gray monster would help them. "I just have to be careful who sees me like this."

Sonic and Chip were interrupted by the sound of sobbing. They looked toward the ice cream booth and realized that the vendor was wailing uncontrollably, his head and arms on the table of the booth.

"It's hopeless!" the ice cream vendor cried, throwing his arms up in despair. "The entire planet has split apart! We're doomed!"

_Split apart…? _Sonic's mind raced. What did the vendor mean? If the world had been split apart, it must mean that the tear was not limited to this city. It also meant that Eggman had found a way to consolidate the energy and has used it to cause country-wide, even worldwide destruction.

While Sonic stood lost in thought, Chip flew up to the man, concern on his face and his voice pleading.

"Mister! Hey Mister! Heyyy, Don't cry!" The man, who was in too much despair to acknowledge Chip, continued to cry. Chip searched frantically for something to comfort him. Suddenly, Chip noticed an impeccably crafted Chocolate Chip Cream Sundae Supreme sitting at the counter beside the vendor, and had an idea. Chip took it off of the stand.

"Ice cream! How about some more of this super tasty stuff?" Chip said, grasping the bottom of the cone with both hands, the dessert being as large as him.

The vendor looked up at Chip, his expression bleak and uncomforting.

"What good is ice cream at a time like this?" the vendor demanded, his face puffy and red like a small child's. He lifted his hands up violently.

Surprised at the unexpected gesture, Chip shot back, beginning to lose balance of the giant dessert.

The ice cream vendor then slammed his arms back on the table, followed by his head, and resumed crying. Sonic could totally understand why the vendor would be freaked out at this point. But crying? Pouting? Wasn't that kind of much?

He also noticed what looked like patches of purple vapor rising around the vendor. He was not sure if it was a trick of his eye or a consequence of a new dessert the vendor was making, but Sonic decided either way that he wanted no part of it.

The force of the vendor slamming the upper part of his body on the table caused Chip to lose his balance completely. He was able to scramble onto the table, but had lost his grip on the ice cream, which plummeted top-first onto the cobblestone pavement.

It happened completely out of instinct. Sonic lunged forward. It was a split second before he realized that his increase in weight and berth would not let him run. Yet, somehow, he found the waffle cone and the rest of the dessert snug and unharmed in his hand. In awe, he brought the dessert closer to his face. It was only then that he realized that the rest of his body had not moved an inch. His arm…had stretched. Several feet, from the look of it.

"Sonic!" Chip cried, clutching his arm. "Your arm just stretched!"

Sonic was too awed to point out to Chip that Chip's exclamation teetered on stating the obvious. He looked at the dessert, then at his arm.

"Weird…" he said to himself. Was this another consequence of the dark energy? This made little more sense than the massive fur growth and new style of footwear. In any case, he decided to retest his arm.

What made it strange as his arm stretched toward the booth and he placed the dessert gently on top of the stand, was that his arm did not feel any different. Though he could control his arm's actions, it moved on its own. He was both connected and disconnected from his new ability, which made it all the more disconcerting. However, Sonic felt that he and Chip had a pretty large endeavor ahead of them, and anything about this energy that was not deterring them could be used to help them in some way.

"…but it could be useful," Sonic finished his sentence.

The vendor looked at Sonic, momentarily distracted from his sobbing fit, then he resumed sobbing, wailing louder than ever and pounding his fist on the table.

Confused and slightly annoyed, Sonic shrugged, and motioned for Chip to leave the ice cream vendor alone and to keep going. Chip looked sadly at the vendor and moved the dessert closer to the vendor, as though to let him know that the treat was available to comfort him if need be. With that, the two left the vendor and walked on into the night.

Tails landed the Tornado in a secluded corner of Windmill Isle, clicking off the controls and sliding off the front of the plane with his device, the Miles Electric, in hand. The ME could do practically anything. It was Tails' most recent invention and he was quite proud of it. He was now using it as a map. He had flew over the section of the water where the tear had been. He remember seeing the same kind of tear in Station Square after he had landed when dropping off Sonic with the satellite pilots. It had caused three buildings to collapse, ripped streets in half and had injured dozens of people. Tails had stayed as long as he could, flying people to safety and bringing much-needed medical supplies and tools to repair damaged buildings. Once he felt the city workers could handle the job without him, Tails gathered his things in the Tornado and flew in search for Sonic, the ME detecting Sonic's energy somewhere in Greece. Tails had worried that Eggman had done something horrible to Sonic in addition to the destruction he had already caused in the world. It was only becoming apparent now how great the damage truly was. Electricity had been out for more than a day. Now that it was steadily beginning to return to other parts of the world, Tails hoped to reach Sonic, and another friend who he felt would help them, quickly.

He must be close. According to the ME, Sonic's presence was not too far from where he was standing. It was as good of a time as any to make the rest of the trek on foot and explain to him the situation, if Sonic didn't know about it already. He stepped into what seemed to be the end of a garden path, a cul-de sac surrounding by a host of unhoused white buildings. He heard laughing.

_What was that? _Tails wondered, feeling uneasy as no one seemed to be around. Was he hearing things? He then realized that he was surrounded by a gang of dead-eyed creatures, surrounded in auras of purple and green.

He felt shock first, then a sense of how absurd they looked, then the realization that these creatures were very real, very dangerous, judging by their laugh and the way they stood intimidatingly above him, and seemed to have no problem with taking him and his device out.

"Whoa…hey, settle down, guys! C'mon!" Tails babbled, having no idea what he was saying or why he was talking. He was not even sure the creatures understood him. If they did, they did not have any intention of settling down or holding back. Tails needed to get away.

"Helllp!" Tails cried, hoping to get someone's attention.

He flew upward as one of the creatures tried to grab him with its disfigured claw. Tails shuddered at the close call. He landed on one of the granite buildings and peered behind it. He couldn't leave. The Tornado was just beyond the gate. If the creatures left the cul-de-sac, Tails had no confidence that they would leave the plane unscathed.

He waited, hoping by some miracle that the creatures would leave, or that Sonic would be the one to find him.

Sonic sensed something. The feeling that he was supposed to walk through the archway to his right and enter the alleyway beyond him grasped at him like a claw. Sonic was impulsive by nature, and he had learned at some point to trust it. More times than not, (though there certainly were times where this was the case) he was not crazy. Also, something felt right about this, it felt urgent. It was where they needed to go next.

"This way," he gestured, almost to himself, toward the archway. Chip looked at Sonic, confused.

"Didn't we just come from that way?" Chip asked, and he wasn't wrong.

Sonic nodded, his growing sense of doubt about this instinct combating with the equally growing sense of urgency that they needed to get through that gate as quickly as possible.

"Yeah," he stopped, staring at the gate, "but I have a hunch we're supposed to find something there."

Chip shrugged, looking dubious about the prospect but figured Sonic was not entirely crazy.

"I trust you," Chip said.

Sonic lumbered forward, hating not being able to run. "If I'm wrong about this, you can choose the route next time, and you get a dessert from me in the process!"

Chip swooned, forgetting everything else with the promise of dessert.

"In that case, I hope you are tooootally wrong!"

Sonic chuckled. They walked through the archway and blinked in surprised as they realized that they were standing in a completely different place than they had started. It was as though the archway had transported them into a clearing, with a building with a low-hanging deck and a boarded entrance way.

"That's not something you experience every day," Sonic barked once he was able to process the situation. Chip nodded, his face blank. Sonic walked around, collecting a few rings for the road before stopping in front of the boarded entrance. The sensation returned in his chest, the gut instinct telling him to go through the gate as soon as possible.

Chip watched him staring at the gate. He pointed tentatively.

"I…think you can use your claws to knock the gate down."

Sonic looked at Chip, suddenly feeling absurd for not thinking of it before.

"Watch out," he told Chip. Chip quickly flew a safe distance away, holding his hands over his face. Sonic lunged back and barreled through the boards with his fist. He was surprised by how quickly it broke apart. They looked at each other and shrugged.

"Guess we go," Sonic said.

They walked through the gate, which lead them into a narrow path lined with flowers and garden pots. Sonic felt that the path was deceptively quiet, that it was hiding something among the white buildings that surrounded the path and the many, many entrances.

They walked to the end of a path, turned a corner, and—

Were surrounded by a gang of squat creatures with shining blue horns and green energy coursing through their bodies. Sonic and Chip stood, unsure of what to do until one of the creatures wobbled forward, then lunged to strike them. Instinct took over. Sonic thrust his arms forward, throwing punches until they disappeared in clouds of purple smoke. The feeling deep in his chest seemed to alleviate, for just a moment.

Sonic and Chip stood back and let silence settle back into the night, taking deep breaths and trying to process what had just happened.

"Are those creatures why you wanted to come here, Sonic?" Chip asked, which caused Sonic to ask himself a question as well: _How did I know they were here?_

Sonic did not know how to answer either question. Chip looked at his confused expression and seemed to understand.

"There must be more around here," Sonic said, the feeling in his chest returning. "Let's see if there are any more. From the look of them, I don't want to see what they do if they keep roaming around."

Chip nodded, not looking thrilled at the prospect. Sonic started to go on, but stopped as he saw that the purple smoke that had appeared when the creatures were defeated still hung thickly in the area. Sonic was not keen on breathing in anything that even remotely looked like what he had been violently shocked with the night before.

"I call that stuff Dark Gaia force. Yeah, that sounds like a good name for it," Chip said. Sonic turned to look at Chip. _What the ever-living hell was he talking about?_

"If you walk through it, it can make you crazy powerful," Chip continued.

Sonic still had no idea what Chip was talking about. He also had no intention of walking through the mist, but realized it was starting to grow more transparent. Maybe he was fine to walk through it, if he held his breath, and…

It was like he was shot with a rush of adrenaline, a burst of power that he had never experienced before. The energy surged through his muscle, his arms. It was not searing pain that fought against him, but energy that empowered him, made him feel indestructible. He threw his head back and howled before he could stop himself.

He whipped his head back at Chip, his mouth hanging open.

"How did you know that?!" he growled, his already raspy voice cracking in surprise.

The expression Chip gave Sonic was similar to the one he had given him when Sonic had asked Chip about his memories. He scratched his head, confused, then shrugged.

"I don't knoww! It just came to me. I guess it was right though, right?"

Sonic nodded, still beaming from the surge of energy that the haze had given him.

"Oh yeah!"

He and Chip kept going. Sonic still felt the surge even after defeating several more gangs of dark creatures. It was after they had traveled a few miles when Sonic and Chip hit a brick wall.

Actually, the wall was more of a granite entrance with a nicely decorated door. A sign reading "Seaside Parlor" was above it.

Sonic tried lifting the door open at the bottom. It had worked for him several times before, but the granite was more than a match for his strength. After straining awkwardly for a minute, trying to push at and under the door with different angle, Sonic gave up. He could take out a dozen full-bodied, vaporous creatures with a swipe of his claw but couldn't open a door?

"Sonic, look!" Chip pointed. Sonic stared down and realized that there were two tablets on either side. Each tablet had a space where something needed to be fit through. Sonic was familiar with these: he had opened doors using this system before. So there were two stones that they needed to find, and the door, and hopefully the last of the creatures, would open to them.

Sonic looked around, first sifting through the plants and flowers then smashing the garden pots. Sonic stopped at the fourth garden pot, realizing that this was excessive even for him. When he was not able to find the stones in the flowers or garden pots, he turned to the place he had been avoiding: a building next to the door. The building had a door of its own: wood he could easily smash apart. Praying that the building did not house an unassuming family, he smashed through the wooden frame and found to his relief that the building was empty, save for a few rings and a jagged red stone. Sonic took the rings and the stone and lifted it up. He had to use both arms: it was heavier than he thought. He carried the stone onto the matching red tablet, which to his satisfaction fit perfectly. He then began to search in a series of buildings adjacent to the door.

After defeating an energy-infused robot that vaguely reminded Sonic of a machine that Eggman would design, he tore down the first flimsy door. Chip hung back, watching Sonic as he walked back out. Though Sonic had wanted to say that no stone had been un-turned, there was, unfortunately, no stone to turn, and no opportunity to use that joke.

He broke open the second door, which housed a gaggle of black and yellow creatures, which Sonic also broke through, quickly. Third time was indeed and predictably the charm when Sonic found the green stone, matching it with the green tablet. The door opened, revealing a landscape that made Sonic's stomach drop to the cobblestone ground. A narrow bridge separated Sonic from a ridge with several more building and creatures. He shivered as he looked down: craggily rocks lined the edges down to the sea. Sonic realized if he fell, it would not be likely he could climb up again, even with his stretchable arms.

He took a deep breath.

"Are you nervous?" Chip asked him. Sonic jumped, forgetting Chip was next to him.

"Just a little," Sonic answered, wondering if the beam could hold his weight. He silently envied Chip's wings. He did not have to worry about a bridge. He could just fly right past it. Why couldn't the dark energy have given him wings instead of cleats?

In any case, Sonic knew he had to move to get somewhere. After lazily throwing a robot over the edge, he tentatively took a step onto the beam. He found that his cleats were good for one thing: they let him stick onto the beam more firmly. Being able to keep his balance was another story.

Sonic held his arms out to either side and tried to look straight ahead. He had left the rooftop he had previously stood upon. He took a deep breath. OK, halfway there. He grew steadily more confident as the building grew closer and closer. Almost there…

"This is pretty high up," Chip remarked, casually floating next to Sonic. "I can see the hill we were at from here."

"Huh, you don't say," Sonic said through gritted teeth. Because being reminded of how high they were was always good for morale, so much better for his shaking limbs…

A gust of wind took Sonic by surprise. He tried to pull his foot off of the beam to right himself, but his cleat stuck to the bridge, causing him and his free foot to sway dangerously. He couldn't keep his balance.

"Sonic!" Chip shouted.

"Chip!" Terrified, he found himself falling, realizing he would be making impact with the water he couldn't keep himself afloat in, even when he was half of the weight he was now and 400 percent less hairless…

In desperation, he thrust his arms forward. As before, he started the motion, but his arms carried it through. He could feel solid rock beneath his fingernails. His arms stretching out then pulling the rest of his body up like a yo-yo, he was able to use his arms to pull himself from the edge onto the other side. He looked at the rooftop where they had come, surprised by the distance they had covered. Knowing he could use his arms to navigate areas where footing was iffy turned out to be useful, as he ended up scaling a series of smaller buildings he could not have taken on foot. Sonic could appreciate this new skill, not mentioning of course it had saved his ass from drowning. These arms indeed turned out to be useful.

Once they had gotten on solid, spacious ground and Sonic could breathe again, he walked forward, noticing that he had not met any creatures in a while. He looked at Chip, who shrugged, unsure of where the creatures had gone, either. Was that the last of them?

He and Chip reached a door. He used the switch in front of the door to open it. At least they didn't have to look for more stones. Sonic heard roars, then saw, through the haze of dark energy, more creatures than Sonic had seen in one place. They varied in size, shape, but all looked dangerous. Sonic immersed himself in the haze, feeling his vision sharpen, the energy ready to burst from his chest. Howling, he leaped into the fray. It became a blur of clawing, punching, throwing. He jumped, spun, was thrown back by the force of his opponents' attacks. The roars of the creatures mixed with his own. Finally, the haze cleared. Sonic stood. Panting, exhilarated, victorious. He never counted brute force for much, since he was so quick on his feet, and associated fist work more with a certain knuckle-head. Sonic did not realize how powerful it could be, how accomplished he would feel being able to wield a strength like it. He wondered if he would ever have the chance to ask Knuckles about it sometime.

Something had caught Sonic's eye. It wasn't a creature. It was crouching on top of one of the buildings, hands over his face, almost as dazed, scared, and impressed as Sonic from the battle. Sonic grinned, his fangs still feeling overlarge and foreign to him.

"Hey Tails!"


	6. Chapter 6

Tails had to do a double-take. He looked at the crouching, gray silhouette. From the light of the moon, Tails was able to see Sonic's features more clearly.

"What're you doing out here?" Sonic asked.

Tails stared. The eyes of the towering figure in front of him were the same shade of green as Sonic's, though darker. His voice, though raspy, had the same level of energy and confidence Tails had come to associate with his best friend.

"Sonic?" Tails asked, edging away from the top of the building where he had been hiding. "Is that really you?" He looked both ways, then flew down to meet him.

"That's a new look. What happened?" Sonic's "new look" intimidated Tails much more than he wanted to let on. Feeling certain that Sonic himself had not changed though his appearance had, Tails adopted the same confidence and ease that Sonic had, and he wanted to show Sonic that he would not treat him differently just because he had fur and fangs.

Surprised by Tails' nonchalant reaction, and grateful that Tails wanted to lessen the impact of Sonic's transformation by speaking normally to him, even though Sonic was sure it freaked Tails out a bit, he tried to return the favor and keep things light. "You know me, never a dull moment!" he quipped, grinning.

Chip popped out from behind Sonic and thrust an unwrapped chocolate bar in Tails' direction. Sonic peered at the bar. _Where did he get that from?_

"Want some chocolate?" Chip asked Tails.

"Um…" Tails looked from Chip to Sonic, unsure of how to answer Chip.

Sonic understood Tails' glance, and made a sheepish, "ehhh…" grin behind Chip's back. He also shrugged, wanting to show Tails Chip was friendly, but that it wasn't a good idea to eat the chocolate, especially if it had come from questionable sources.

Tails got the message. "Thanks," he told Chip. He took a piece of the chocolate and pocketed it, making sure to show Chip his appreciation without having to eat it.

"I was looking for you," Tails told Sonic, answering Sonic's question. "According to the Miles Electric, it had picked up your signal around this area." Tails stopped, swallowing as he broke to Sonic the worst news. "Sonic, Eggman had"-

"I know," Sonic interrupted, "he tore the world apart. I saw the crack in the ocean."

Tails nodded. "I was worried that after Eggman had torn the earth apart, he had done something horrible to you. I came to Apotos to make sure you were OK, and well, you know the rest…"

Tails looked dubiously around, where the creatures had been. Sonic nodded. The strange feeling in his chest had loosened and disappeared completely, which Sonic guessed meant that the creatures he had fought here were the last of their kind, at least in this area.

Tails paused, then continued: "I also came to tell you that there might be a way to fix the planet."

"Really?" Sonic asked with raised eyebrows. Not that he didn't trust that Tails was the most intelligent and inventive person he knew, it was just, well, he didn't know of a welding tool large enough to fuse a separated planet together…

"It's not my idea," Tails explained, as though reading Sonic's mind. "There's actually a lot I don't get about it. A friend of mine from Spagonia contacted me about it, and I figured that trying to do something about it was better than doing nothing. I'm going to Spagonia to talk to him and see what we can do," he grinned at Sonic. "Care to join me?"

Sonic grinned back. "Heh, don't mind if I do!"

Tails laughed, then pointed ahead.

"Well, my plane's a few miles away," he began, "so let's go down and talk as we go. Or rather, you talk about what happened with Eggman and how you got here."

Sonic chuckled, happy to oblige. Sonic reached the end of his telling as the plane came into view. Chip flew behind Sonic and Tails as Sonic spoke, humming to himself and floating dreamily in the air. The Tornado turned out to be parked at the same windmill that Sonic had crashed into yesterday morning. He could even see (albeit faintly, it was still dark out) the hedgehog-shaped crater his head had made in the right-hand corner.

"That's some story," Tails said, after Sonic had finished. "I'll bet that means that your turning into…" Tails paused, unsure of what to call Sonic's new form. Absolutely terrifying? Something that looked straight from an A level horror film? Tails decided to stick with "that, and the planet breaking apart are somehow related."

Sonic nodded. Made sense, especially as the dark energy, that purple aura was in both. It felt strange to him that the same power that could cause so much destruction was nestled inside of him, that it had taken over his body, had transformed him into…

"I need to find Eggman and make him fix this, and fast!" Sonic said, only faintly aware that Chip was mock-wrangling Eggman behind him.

"About that," Tails said, "Professor Pickle, the one at Spagonia University I had told you about, should know something about what's going on, even about the connection between you and the rest of the planet." Chip responded by performing a masterful backstroke behind Tails in mid-air, humming crazily.

"Spagonia?" Sonic asked, ignoring Chip completely. "That's a continent over. A quick jog if the planet weren't broken."

Tails smiled wryly. "You do know that my plane's right here, right Sonic?"

Sonic stopped, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes. He was starting to feel tired.

"Right," he chuckled hoarsely, "forgot about that."

"Let's get going!" Tails said, his energy increasing as much as Sonic's was decreasing.

"Leave it to you, Tails!" Sonic responded lazily, trying to hold back a yawn. "Let's get moving!"

Tails climbed into the plane's cockpit, beginning to set the coordinates. "Shouldn't be too long. We should get there by 9 a.m." He turned around to look at Sonic. "You can sit on the back of the plane, and…" he looked at Chip uncertainly.

"Chip can ride with you," Sonic said. Tails smiled, as Chip had begun to sleep in midair, snoring softly.

"Sounds good to me." He quietly led Chip inside of the plane and turned to Sonic a second time.

"Ready to go?" he said.

Sonic gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright! Here we go!" Tails clicked a button and the engine roared to life. The plane picked up speed as they drove through the field until they lifted off, rising above the windmill and leaving Apotos behind them.

As they flew, Sonic noticed right away that the plane was not moving as quickly as he had remembered it before. They also seemed to gather less height. Sonic stared around the plane, wondering if there was something wrong with the Tornado-1, until his eyes landed on his massive claws and chest.

"Tails!" he shouted. Tails' head perked up.

"Am I, you know…?" He stretched his hands in front of him and motioned them downward. He wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to Tails or the plane because he was weighing them down.

Tails shook his head vigorously. "No way!" he shouted. "I tested it out myself. This plane can carry up to 60 tons no problem!"

Sonic nodded, not liking this new-found sense of embarrassment. And he had always been the one to make cracks at Eggman about his weight…

The sky grew lighter as they kept flying. Sonic could better see the clouds they were steadily rising above, the growing strength of the sun as it rose, as it finally burst from the clouds. As the sunlight hit the plane, as Sonic felt the warmth of the sunlight on his skin, he felt himself transforming, a stressful experience to have anyway, much more so on the back of a plane, thousands of feet from the ground.

Sonic had braced himself, making sure to hold on to the back of the plane as tightly as possible in case the transformation was painful, intense. To Sonic's surprise and relief, he felt hardly any pain. He only experienced the sensation of something inside him pulling back, then felt the release of the purple aura. He opened his eyes, excited to see his familiar peach-colored arms at his side. The plane roared, rising still higher until they broke through the clouds into a clearing, where Tails and Sonic could see the sky clearly. Chip had woken up and was peering excitedly behind Tails' seat.

Tails turned around to look at Sonic, mouth opening as he saw Sonic looking like himself again. Taking taking a moment to register the transformation, Tails shouted: "Well, Sonic? Feel pretty good to fly like this?"

"I can explain later," Sonic said quickly, addressing Tails' shocked expression. "Yeah," he laughed, looking around him, "not too shabby!"

"The Professor's just a hop and a skip with…" he gasped. Sonic had seen it too. He stiffened, not liking what he saw.

"What's that approaching?" Tails asked, worried.

Six drones with propellers on their heads flew out of the clouds, facing the Tornado. Sonic recognized their model and maker right away.

"Yup, here comes the parade!" Sonic said laconically. Tails chuckled at Sonic's tone, regaining his composure.

"I've got this one, Sonic! Tornado… Battle Mode… engaged!" Tails pressed a button and turned to look back at Sonic. "I would hold on," he added to Sonic as an afterthought. Sonic grasped the handle that Tails had installed on the back of the plane more tightly as the nose, wings, and body of the plane shifted. Sonic was vaguely reminded of a similar mode the Tornado 2 had, and was glad that a claw didn't have to pick him up when the plane transformed this time. While Sonic had prepared to hold on as the plane was transforming, he didn't think about hanging on tightly _afterward. _Tails pressed another button, thrust the steering lever forward, and the plane shot through the air. Sonic yelped, the force of the motion almost causing him to let go.

_So that's what Tails meant…_ he thought vaguely to himself.

"I…might need your help!" Tails shouted, as another gaggle of drones came into view.

"Huh?" Sonic said, realizing Tails was speaking to him. "What can I do?"

"Do you see the triggers on either side of your bar?" Tails asked.

Sonic looked to either side, shocked to find that what he was holding onto was not the set of handles that would keep him flying off of the plane as he had thought, but a weapon.

"Press the triggers and shoot down any robots that you see. I'm going to try to maneuver the Tornado away from them." Tails said.

Sonic nodded. "Sounds good!"

Running his tongue over his teeth, Sonic placed his hands over both triggers and aimed for the gaggle of robots that were approaching the nose of the plane. He shot. The robots disappeared in small explosions and bursts of smoke. Sonic was surprised at his good aim, considering that he was not one to use weapons.

Tails flew lower to avoid the drones. Sonic could see the ocean below them, rocks sticking out from its surface. He kept his focus on the robots, well, most of his focus, anyway, and continued to shoot them down.

There didn't seem to be too many of them at one time. It was getting easy for Sonic to shoot down multiple drones.

Tails flew higher, going above the clouds until Sonic could no longer see the ocean. A bit of a relief, actually.

The shots Sonic fired at the drones grew less and less. They were steadily disappearing, which gave Sonic a sense of pride. Given what damage and chaos Dr. Eggman was able to accomplish the night before, it felt vindicating to have one small victory, at least.

Sonic stared out into the sky. They were rushing through a patch of clouds. Sonic could feel the moisture sticking to his quills, see the patches of whiteness, the gigantic, glistening golden machine that was slowly ascending in front of them.

"Wha-? What _is_ that thing?" Sonic shouted.

Maniacal laughter served to answer his question. "Well, Sonic!" Dr. Eggman's voice crackled triumphantly through an intercom somewhere on the ship. "Prepare to be sunk!"

As Sonic compared the size of the Tornado-1 to the hulking machine in front of them, he felt that Eggman's statement, for once, wasn't entirely void of truth.

Sonic's concerned lessened, and he grinned as he heard a mechanical voice address Eggman through the intercom. "Remember, Doctor. It's not yet complete. Handle it gently."

Sonic cupped his hand over his mouth, yelling: "Turning in another sloppy machine for us to shoot down, Egghead?"

"Errgh, silence!" Eggman shouted, sounding flustered, to Sonic's delight.

"It looks like we need to shoot that thing down to get by!" Tails said. He and Sonic exchanged smiles. This was going to be a cinch.

"Go! Fire all weapons!" Eggman screamed, as a stream of drones and missiles headed toward the Tornado. Sonic shot as many down as he could, even aiming a few into the entrance where Eggman had released the missiles. Eggman quickly closed the entrance and released missiles through the sides of the bowl-shaped ship.

Tails, taking a different approach, tried to maneuver the Tornado out of the way of the ship, but Eggman promptly blocked him every time.

The entrance opened again, releasing a new wave of weapons. Sonic frantically shot them down, trying to aim for the entrance as many times as possible. Eggman locked the entrance up again, continuing to block their path. Sonic braced, waiting to fire as soon as he saw those doors open. It was the only weak point that he knew of, and he did not want to keep wasting time in the sky. For all he knew, the damage in Spagonia and the rest of the planet could be getting worse, and he was sure that the Tornado's supply of gasoline was not limitless.

Two blinking, sliding doors opened. _Ah-ha!_ Sonic thought, placing his hands over the triggers and aiming the weapon forward. _Gotcha, Eggman!_

Sonic's vision was blinded by dozens of missiles. He shot, unable to see whether what he was hitting were missiles or the entrance. When he realized that heavy, brown smoke was issuing from the entrance and Eggman could not close it, Sonic knew that it would only take a couple more shots to send the machine out of commission.

Eggman fired more missiles in rapid succession. Smoke mixed with the clouds, making it harder to see. As much as he enjoyed the challenge, Sonic was ready to end it. Once the Tornado faced the front of Eggman's ship, Sonic aimed and fired. The roar of the machine changed to a high-pitch whine, as the brown smoke darkened to black.

"Further combat inadvisable, Doctor," the voice of the robot spoke again through the intercom.

"Huh? Energy levels dropping!" Eggman shouted, having appeared not to notice either the machine's screech of death or the smoke that started to encapsulate the ship. That, or he pretended not to notice the inevitable demise of his ship in the hopes that Sonic and Tails would not notice, either.

"Grrh! What a disaster! Retreat!" Contrasting sharply with its grand ascent, the ship sunk unceremoniously downward and disappeared underneath a pile of clouds.

Sonic slapped his hands together at a job well done, until a burst of speed from the Tornado caused him to grab onto the handles again.

"Nice flight-work Tails, as always!" Sonic said once he recovered, giving his friend a salute. Though Tails kept his face toward the path in front of them, Sonic could almost see Tails' smile.

"Thanks!" Tails responded. "I have to say, you have great aim yourself! I should take you on shooting missions more often!"

"Eheh, maybe." He turned his head to Chip, who was still holding onto the back of Tails' seat but had turned around to face Sonic.

"What did you think?" Sonic asked Chip. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Chip gestured excitedly, his mouth running a mile a minute, but Sonic could not hear him over the roar of the plane. Chip stopped in mid-gesture as something caught his eye. His mouth hung open and he pointed downward.

_Oh great, _Sonic thought, hoping it wasn't another one of Eggman's machines. He followed where Chip was pointing. An entire city had come into view, rows upon rows of buildings with rectangular rooftops lined the landscape. This had to be Spagonia.

"We're here!" Tails announced. Sonic felt himself relax, glad the trek was over.

"I'll find a place for us to land, and then we'll meet the professor at Spagonia University. He should be getting out of his last class now! He always liked teaching early classes, for some reason," Tails went on, just as excited as them. "We're right on schedule! He'll be waiting for us at the door!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Professor Pickle…isn't here…?" Tails repeated slowly, making sure that he understood the professor's terrified assistant correctly. The assistant had pounced on them the moment they walked into the building. The assistant's green jacket was askew, his hair standing on end. He had thrown up his hands, babbling incoherently. Tails had tried to calm the assistant down by asking him to speak more slowly and to try to repeat the assistant's words back to him to show him that Tails understood. After five minutes of effort, the most Tails could repeat back to the assistant was "Professor Pickle…isn't here…"

"He-they-they," the assistant cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "It was right b-before the tremors hit. This…old man showed up, with a" – the assistant formed a circle over his stomach to indicate that the "old man" had a wide girth-"a-and"- he took two of his fingers and spread them underneath his nose to mimic a mustache-"and a w-whole pack of robots!" The assistant had become more articulate, but had turned five shades paler after recounting the story.

Tails now became the one to freak out. "WHAT?!" he yelled. "Professor Pickle's been KIDNAPPED?"

"They carried the p-poor professor off, lab data and all," the assistant said, nodding with a faraway, traumatized look in his eye.

Tails looked down. "It can't be."

Sonic turned to look at Tails. "That sure sounds like Eggman," he said.

The two exchanged looks and nodded.

"What a horrible thing to do!" said a new voice. Sonic, Tails and the assistant looked over to Chip, who had an expression akin to hearing about how sausage was produced for the first time.

"We have to go help that professor guy out, and fast!" He pointed desperately toward the door.

"If he got kidnapped that long ago, he's got to be real hungry by now!" Food had become especially present in Chip's mind. Before they had gone to the university, he, Tails and Sonic had gotten some food to eat at a local deli. Chip had caused the workers to blush by how many times he told them that he had eaten the best sandwich in the world. The bread alone was the subject of Chip's ramble from the deli to the university.

"An-and, if I was that hungry," Chip clutched his stomach dramatically, "I-I don't know how long I would last! I would rather be dead! I would…"

As Chip continued to ramble, Sonic's mind began to wander: if Eggman had kidnapped Professor Pickle before he tore the planet apart, that must have meant that he had taken Professor Pickle away before he flew the carrier into space. Eggman's plan had become much more involved, more premeditated than Sonic had realized. He was inclined to agree with at least one of Chip's statements: to save the professor as quickly as possible. Eggman could have done or could be doing so much more chaos than they were aware of. Having even a semblance of a plan to reverse it would be a start.

"I-I'm sure Eggman's feeding him," Tails said, now having to become the voice of reason to the two individuals. "Even he's not that cruel."

"OK," Sonic said, starting to feel impatient, "let's go find the professor."

"But we would need to know where Eggman had taken Professor Pickle in the first place in order to find him," Tails responded.

"Ask around? I'm sure someone had to have seen a giant airship and a pack of robots taking away a college professor. I mean, Eggman's isn't the type to do things on the down-low, especially if he can make a production out of it."

"True." Tails stood, deep in thought, until he looked up and smiled. "We'll go through the city and ask around. You're right, there should be someone who had seen what was going on." He turned to look at the assistant. "Eggman didn't happen to say where he was taking Professor Pickle, did he?"

The assistant shook his head. "Not that I know of. All I heard was maniacal laughter and his robots taking apart the office."

Tails nodded. "Thanks for helping us out, and we'll make sure to get Professor Pickle back safely."

The assistant nodded back. "Please bring him back quickly," he said. "I am quite worried about him."

Sonic, having known that kind of worry before, gave the assistant a thumbs up. "Promise," he said.

As he, Tails and Chip left the university, Tails entered some data into the Miles Electric.

"I'll stay here and find out what I can from the university. You and Chip can ask around the village, see if anyone's seen anything.'

Sonic and Chip nodded. "Sounds good!" Sonic said.

He and Chip began to walk around. Except for getting a few strange looks, no one they had asked seemed to know anything. He turned a corner and walked down a road lined with rectangular buildings and covered overhead with a series of bridges. Sunlight streamed through the bridges, creating a web of lights and shadows on the roads and houses. Sonic found a woman wearing an apron standing outside of a building, and he went to ask her.

As he explained it to her, she suddenly nodded, as though in realization. "So that's what was going on," she said to herself. She turned to Sonic and explained further:

"My son said he saw a plane carrying his geology professor to Mazuri. I thought he was going crazy, I was about to go to the dean. Hearing your story, though, my son may not be as crazy as I thought."

"I saw it too," a student who had been walking by added, after overhearing the conversation. "I mean, the bozo flying the ship announced what he was doing loud enough for everyone in the Linguistics department to hear it."

Sonic nodded. "And he said he was taking Professor Pickle to Mazuri?"

"Yeah," the student responded. "Mazuri's in Africa, isn't it? Why would that maniac want to take Pickle there?"

Sonic shrugged.

"Well, thank you both for letting us know," the aproned woman said, looking at Sonic and the student, "I'll make sure to tell my son."

Sonic nodded, and he and Chip ran back to the university to find Tails.

"Huh? Somebody said to look in Mazuri?" Tails asked.

"What's one more continent?" Sonic quipped, giving Tails a shrug and a wink.

"Guess that means we're heading to Mazuri! I just finished tuning up the Tornado here, and we should make it there by nightfall if we leave now. Let's head out!"

Sonic and Chip nodded, and the three of them went on their way toward the plane.

The plane ride from Spagonia to Mazuri went without incident, meaning that they were not assaulted by Eggman's drones. They had reached the village early, which was fortunate, as Sonic's transformation was more painful than it had been the evening before. He clawed the ground, struggling to recover from the pain that gripped him underneath his skin and into his bones. He stood up, wearily, nodding to indicate to Tails and Chip that he was all right, and they approached the various huts and massive foliage that made up one of the villages in Mazuri.

Tails, opting to stay behind, went back to the Tornado as Sonic and Chip decided to see if any of the villagers had noticed anything unusual.

A few people were out, but they whispered together in groups and glanced distrustfully at Sonic and Chip as they walked by. The villagers were visibly distracted by something.

"Wonder if they've seen Eggman?" Sonic asked Chip.

They decided to ask. Approaching who appeared to be a store owner standing outside of his shop.

"We're closed tonight," the owner said, who also looked distracted.

"There is a new building that appeared on the other side of the village. No one knows where it came from or how. It has scared me, it's scared my family. I can't run the shop, for real."

_New building? _Sonic wondered. Could Eggman have built something like that after he had kidnapped Professor Pickle? Then again, even Eggman couldn't have constructed something that quickly. He had only kidnapped Professor Pickle like what, two days ago? In any case, Sonic decided to investigate it.

He thanked the store owner and walked to a gate that, according to another villager, led to the other side of Mazuri. He went up to the gate and found that a man was standing in front of it. Strangely enough, the man had the same, strange purple smoke that had surrounded the ice cream vendor at Apotos the night before, though, Sonic was sure this man was not eating ice cream.

He giggled, wheezed eerily as they walked by. Sonic and Chip exchanged glances, wondering if they should ask him about the professor.

"I do know someone was looking for some help," the man murmured, turning in Sonic and Chip's direction without appearing to have seen them. "That's what the spirits tell me, at any rate," the man finished, lapsing into choked giggles.

Becoming more disconcerted, Sonic and Chip kept walking, unsure of whether or not they should do something to help the man. The man stayed where he was, laughing to himself.

"That's Kwami," the store owner said, suddenly coming up beside them, "he has been acting really strange. No one knows quite why."

Sonic and Chip nodded.

"The gate is right past here," the store owner continued, pointing to the gate ahead of them, "You can find the building that you are looking for there."

Sonic and Chip looked at each other and thanked the store owner again. After contacting Tails to follow them on the plane, they entered the gate, wondering what this new night would bring.


	8. Chapter 8

The previous night in Apotos had shown Sonic what he could be capable of in his new form: he remembered the sense of power that he had, the weird sense of harmony he had been able to accomplish between himself and his new body. He was not fond of the energy by any means, but he had at least felt that he had some level of control over the power, that he was able to use the energy rather than letting it use him. Tonight, in Mazuri, was Apotos' polar opposite. His size, which had aided him in defeating enemies the night before, was more of a burden than a weapon. He felt further disconnected from his arms. He would reach for something, but the arms would do something else, making grabbing onto ledges a perilous and often failed experience. Sonic, after having fallen for the dozenth time, rubbed the accumulating series of bruises on the back of his legs and groaned. Sonic realized the night before that he needed the new powers he had gotten. He hated depending on the same source of energy that had destroyed the world. He hated depending on anything that could control him in the first place. _Say what you will, _Sonic thought, as one of Eggman's robots crept out of the shadow of a gigantic tree. Sonic, extending one of his arms, (and it actually responding correctly) seized the robot and threw it from side to side before it became destroyed. _But it is hella fun to destroy these things with a wave of the hand._

_Wait, _Sonic realized, as he looked at the robot's parts scattered across the ground, emblazoned with the symbol of Eggman's head. This was the third robot he had destroyed within the last ten minutes. They must be getting close to the building the store owner had mentioned, or Eggman's ship. Sonic decided to try the ledge again, hoping to get a better view from a higher view. He stretched his arms, willing them upward. They extended upward. _OK, _Sonic thought, feeling dust and dirt underneath his fingernails. _But will they hold?_

His arms began to de-extend. The rest of his body rose in the air. Then, just as it had happened a thousand times before, his arms had let go before his brain could correct them to stay. Sonic fell, feeling an even greater disconnect from this ability.

"You OK, Sonic?" Chip asked.

"Yeah," he groaned, sitting up.

He looked around and noticed that there were several smaller rocks scattered around the ledge. If Sonic jumped from those onto the ledge, it might make grabbing onto the ledge easier.

He decided to try it out. Sonic leaped onto the first rock. Not bad, he did not need his arms for that one. He got himself ready and jumped onto the next rock. Again, he did not need his arms for that leap, either. It went well enough. He stared ahead at the ledge he was trying to reach. Even with using the rocks as leverage, it was still too far for him to land by jumping alone. He would need to use his arms. His arms outstretched, preparing himself, Sonic took the leap. His arms extended, latched onto the edge, took hold, and took the rest of his body with them. He pulled himself up and climbed, relieved, onto the ledge. It had worked. Though he wished that he could have climbed onto the ledge without the delay or the twenty-something bruises, Sonic was thankful at least that he could adapt.

Sonic stared out at the landscape. Nothing looked more unusual than what he had seen, except for the smallest gleam of metal, the outline of a metallic rooftop past the trees and crags. That must have been where Eggman's base was. He looked around for the Tornado-1, wondering if Tails had already seen it. In any case, Sonic was relieved. At least they knew where they were going now, and it was definitely possible that they could get to the headquarters by morning.

And then there was that thing. It only appeared in his vision for a moment. Another rooftop. It did not gleam, but it stood out. Sonic assumed it was part of Eggman's headquarters, but there was something different about it…

After looking for another moment, Sonic jumped back onto the ground. He was met with a good assortment of Eggman's robots and some of the creatures of the same kind that had been at Apotos. Still feeling as though he were waving wet noodles from side to side instead of parts of his body, he was able to take them out. Once clear, Sonic motioned to Chip, who had ducked behind a rock, and they kept going.

They had covered a good distance, and it had been a while since Sonic had seen any of the dark creatures or Eggman's robots, plus they had not reached any ledges or high places that would potentially involve another bruise on the butt. Sonic decided they needed a break. He found a spot underneath one of the enormous trees that seemed to grow in packs in the area, and he flopped down as Chip came beside him. He needed to sit. It was discouraging. It was so rare when Sonic felt that his body was a burden, something that he had to fight against. How could he not feel the absence of his speed, his body that harmonized completely with his mind, his soul?

"You look tired," Chip said, coming down next to Sonic.

"I guess I am," Sonic said, still in thought.

Chip looked around. The dust and trees were empty without the activity of the creatures and the robots. Chip liked it better that way.

"You think we'll run into any more of those creatures, or Eggman's robots?" Chip asked.

"Once we get closer to the building, there'll probably be more around," Sonic responded, "but I think we're good for now."

"I think so, too," Chip said, flopping down and laying back against the tree, stretching his bare feet.

Sonic looked at Chip. This had not been the first time that the thought had crossed his mind. Who or what exactly was Chip, where had he come from? Sonic wondered what Chip had been doing, what life he was continuing before Sonic had landed on him the day before.

What bugged Sonic as much as who Chip was _what _he was. The closest thing that Sonic could relate his pointed ears and his tiny body to was a Chihuahua. Then again, though, what Chihuahua had wings?

After watching a distant torch flicker for a few minutes and continuing to be deep in thought, Sonic and Chip decided to keep going. They climbed over a few more ledges and began to see the building grow closer and closer to view when they heard the sound of a plane flying overhead.

Tails flew low enough for Sonic and Chip to hear him shout "I'm going to fly ahead to the building. Do you want to come?" Sonic considered it for a moment. He thought he could grab onto the plane using his arms, but realized that it might entail him being thrown off of the plane if his arms decided to stop working.

"I'll meet up with you," Sonic shouted in response, giving Tails a thumbs up.

"Cool! See you then," Tails said, starting to rise to fly off, but halted.

"I just had a thought," Tails began, pointing downward. "The main entrance to the building should be straight ahead, but I feel like Eggman could have installed other ways into entering the building if the main door didn't work out. Maybe keep a lookout?"

Sonic did not think about that. He nodded, grinning. "We'll keep a lookout!"

"Alright, see you there!" Tails responded. He pulled a lever and the plane flew off.

Sonic and Chip kept going.

"Tails is really smart," Chip said, doing slow somersaults in the air.

Sonic looked at him, his laugh coming out like a bark. "Yeah he is!"

Chip's statement reminded Sonic of what he had been searching for in the first place. He looked at nearby ledges, at the ground, trying to see if anything appeared out of place.

Chip suddenly stopped, clutching his stomach. "I feel so bad for that professor guy," he said, staring mournfully downward. "I hope we can free him fast so we can get him something to eat."

Sonic had noticed Chip's compassion when he had tried to comfort the inconsolable ice cream vendor the night before and his concern for Professor Pickle. Sonic smiled to himself at Chip's sympathy pains. At the same time he admired Chip's empathy, he wondered if Chip had been the same way before Sonic had met him. Had the chocolate obsession been a thing, as well?

Chip patted his stomach sadly. "All the better reason to save him, right Sonic?"

Sonic nodded. The sky grew the slightest shade lighter as Sonic and Chip continued walking.

It was the copper-colored rock on the ground that first alerted Sonic to the shortcut. He peered down, noticing that it had a more metallic shade than the other gravel on the dusted floor.

"Chip," Sonic said softly, motioning to him with one of his fingers. Chip flew beside him. Sonic found more rocks of the same color, even more interesting, that they did not move when he kicked them with his cleat. He began to investigate, creating a circle around the area of the rocks, digging out the edges, until he found what he had suspected: the series of rocks were actually bolts that held down a trapdoor. Grinning at their discovery, Sonic located the handle and began to pull. For arguably having been built only yesterday, it had gotten stuck rather fast. Sonic strained until he broke the trap door off of its hinges. Sonic and Chip peered down below. Only blackness met them. Exchanging looks, Sonic and Chip took a deep breath and jumped down, only to realize that the drop was far higher than they had expected.

By sheer luck, Sonic managed to land on his feet. Chip hovered above the ground, able to gather his wits about him enough to use his wings when he saw that the ground had now become closer than the trapdoor. They could not see anything. Sonic stretched his arms in front of him, trying to feel for a wall. A pale blue light flickered on to Sonic's left. He jumped, then turned around. Tails had reached the room first, the Miles Electric creating the light.

"I think there's a door somewhere around here," Tails whispered. Sonic wondered why he was speaking so low, until he realized that Eggman or his robots could be present. From the glow of the machine, Sonic could faintly see Tails wander around the room until he heard a mechanical door slide open. They entered the room, the bright florescent lights taking them by surprise. After they recovered, moving their hands away from their eyes, Sonic and Chip looked around. They were in a brightly lit room with rounded, golden walls with a glass capsule in the center, hanging from the ceiling. Sonic was eerily reminded of a similar capsule he had been trapped in when aboard the space colony ARK. Eggman must have been taking cues from his grandfather.

Professor Pickle was inside the capsule. His brown suit was slightly rumpled, and from the way he was sitting, looked tired. Sonic looked at the capsule, unsure of how to release him.

"Professor Pickle!" Tails shouted, "are you all right? We got here as fast as we could!" Professor Pickle did not respond.

Tails flew up to the glass, tentatively knocking on it. "Professor?" he asked softly. Chip joined Tails. "Hello?" Chip asked.

The professor, however, was engrossed in more important matters.

"How dare they call this culinary concoction food?" he said to himself, chewing thoughtfully on a bite of what appeared to be a sandwich he held in his hand. He turned to Tails in indignation.

"Look here," the professor began, "do you see this sorry excuse for a sandwich?"

Unaware that the group's faces had gone completely blank, Professor Pickle continued:

"The bread should be no less than three quarters of an inch thick. Upon it, one tablespoon of mayonnaise and a pinch of black pepper. The contents, fresh cucumbers, sliced _thinly, _if you please. Am I quite right, Tails?" The professor finished, turning to address the young fox.

Chip looked genuinely interested. Tails, wondering if Professor Pickle's question could be interpreted in more ways than one, gave the professor a wry smile.

"P-professor, it's good to see you haven't changed."

Chip nodded, impressed. "I know I learned something here today!" he said.

Professor Pickle stood up. "But tell me," he asked Tails. "What brings you here? The menu is hardly worth the trip if you ask me."

Tails flew to get closer to the glass. "N-no, professor, we came here to resc"-

Tails stopped, as the professor lifted one finger upward. Sonic followed the direction of the professor's finger to find that a security camera with a ruby red visor lined one of the walls. Tails' mouth widened, then he nodded, as though in understanding.

"…not to take away anything from your wonderful cucumber sandwich recipe, but maybe I could suggest taking off the black pepper? From what I heard, it takes away from the natural flavor of the cucumber. An alternative could be to add lemon juice, which could be added on the cucumbers beforehand to prevent the bread from getting soggy."

Chip looked dumbfounded, unsure of why Tails was now adding to the conversation. Tails turned slightly to Sonic, motioning to the security camera with his head.

Sonic understood. As the professor congratulated Tails' statement with "Oh, quite right!" Sonic flung one of his fists forward and destroyed the security camera. Sonic wondered why Tails and Professor Pickles thought it necessary to talk about sandwiches when Eggman would barrel in an army of robots if he knew that the three of them had stepped foot into his building, but deciding against bringing it to their attention.

As they watched sparks come from the crushed remains of the security camera, Tails turned to Professor Pickle and said, "I guess you know it already, but we came to get you away from here."

Professor Pickle nodded. "I believe there is a button on the side of the prison that should dissolve the glass."

"Right!" Tails flew to the side of the prison, pressing the button. The barrier surrounding the prison dissolved and the prison lowered from the ceiling to the floor, allowing the professor to walk out of the prison.

"Now, first things first!" Professor Pickle began, "it's about time someone taught the chef here how to make a proper sandwich!" He gave a small smile. If Sonic could see his eyebrows, he was sure that the professor would have been winking.

Tails returned the professor's smile, though Sonic could see some concern in his eyes. Doctor Eggman would not have left the room containing a prisoner necessary to carry out his plan to destroy the planet without a ton of security, or a battalion of robots at the ready if someone were to threaten it. Sonic felt it necessary to expedite the situation.

"Let's get out of here before Eggman's welcoming committee shows up," he said, pointing toward the door.

The professor turned to him. "Oh yes, quite," he responded. Sonic was surprised. Professor Pickle had barely taken a second glance at him in his current form, which could not have been said for some of the villagers. One woman in particular had screamed, leaped back and demanded in terror if he had ever clipped his fingernails. "But let us be sure to collect the contents of that vault before departing," Professor Pickle continued, pointing to a metallic vault that looked similar to the trapdoor they had entered from on the wall.

Sonic wasted no time. Nodding, his flung his arm back and punched, destroying the door. Tails flew inside and pulled out something wrapped in a pill-shaped container.

"Ah, thank you," the professor said. He surveyed the object in Tails' hand, his face growing serious.

"Those documents are our only hope for surviving this crisis."

Why Eggman would have personally gone to kidnap a college professor in Spagonia and lock him in a high security prison in Mazuri made marginally more sense. Eggman would have taken such great pains to take the professor since Prof. Pickle had the object that Eggman needed, plus the knowledge to aid Eggman in using it. Keeping him prisoner would have also prevented Prof. Pickle from sharing the information with anyone else, someone who would use it to reverse Eggman's plan.

"Let's go," Professor Pickle finished, gesturing to the three of them, "There's no time to lose!" The professor laughed softly to himself. "I legitimately am quite hungry. Those sandwiches were terrible."

Sonic and Tails followed Professor Pickle from behind to make sure they were not being pursued. Chip flew ahead, coming beside Professor Pickle and extending another unwrapped chocolate bar to the professor's face.

"Want some chocolate, Professor?" Chip asked.

Professor Pickle smiled. "My my! Don't mind if I do!" Chip grinned, looking delighted at the Professor's enthusiasm.

Sonic wondered if he should tell the professor about Chip's obsession with chocolate and his questionable storage methods. He decided against it when he saw that the professor took the bar and put it in his suit pocket. Sonic and Tails exchanged glances, shrugged, and followed Professor Pickle and Chip out of the prison.


	9. Chapter 9

It was not until the next evening that Sonic, Chip, and Tails took Professor Pickle back to Spagonia. They had been able to catch a few hours of sleep and Tails hastily added an extension to the interior of the plane for the professor. Professor Pickle had expressed some surprise when the hulking, fluffy hedgehog he had met the evening before was the same skinny, sneaker-wearing, sleepy hedgehog who greeted him with a yawn the next morning. However, the professor did not say anything about it until they had reached his office at the university.

They were not able to be alone right away. The staff, the presses, and Professor Pickle's assistant in general swarmed him with questions and gratitude that he had come back safely. The professor answered their questions, even conceding to a tenth hug from the assistant, but told them that he would need to be undisturbed for several days. They agreed, only asking that they hire additional security to patrol the university and stand outside his office. Once they were left alone, it was nearly evening. Sonic slid away to an unoccupied restroom to transform, but joined Tails, Chip and Professor Pickle after sneaking through the hallway so he would not scare any of the students.

Professor Pickle closed the drapes and began to unscrew the object that had been held in Eggman's vault.

"I do hope it has not been damaged," he murmured to himself. "I have a feeling the doctor had been rough with it."

He pulled out the object out of the container. The object turned out to be a scroll, which Professor Pickle rolled out and displayed on a stand. He sighed in relief.

"No," he said. "It looks quite whole."

The inside of the scroll was filled with sketches and notes written in languages that Sonic did not know. They looked ancient. They also looked confusing. Tails looked as flummoxed as Sonic felt.

"If you don't mind me asking, professor, but what exactly does that scroll have to do with what Eggman did to the planet?" Tails asked.

"That is precisely why I wanted to see you here tonight. These documents do not only explain how Eggman tore the planet apart, but also explain how it can be put back together."

Sonic and Tails looked at each other.

"But first, have some tea." Professor Pickle motioned to a teacup and several cups sitting on a tray. "I find a good brew of chamomile always helps me whatever the situation."

Sonic and Tails politely declined, but Chip readily took a cup, which the professor poured for him. He took several large swigs as Professor Pickle began to explain the documents to them.

"These ancient documents are known as the Gaia Manuscripts. They tell the legend of a disaster that befell our planet some tens of thousands of years ago."

Tails looked at the manuscript, his eyes searching. "A disaster…?" he murmured.

"Quite," Professor Pickle responded. "And according to the Gaia Manuscripts…" he paused. "This isn't the first time that the planet has been broken apart into pieces."

Sonic and Tails gasped. Sonic's mind raced. This had happened before? Had Eggman known about that?

Professor Pickle took another sip of tea before continuing. "The cause lies at the very core of the planet. All of the phenomena we have witnessed are a direct result of one creature—the hyper-energy organism spawned at the planet's core: Dark Gaia."

At the mention of the name Dark Gaia, something jogged in Sonic's memory. Something about the name seemed familiar, even that it was an organism made of energy…

It was possible that he could have been confusing it with the other hyper-energy organisms he had come across in the past: Chaos, Project Shadow, etc. Sonic felt it was way more recent. Had someone mentioned dark energy at the sea in Apotos the day before?

Chip broke Sonic's train of thought as he mournfully shook his tea cup, giving Sonic a pleading look. With more pressing concerns he had to get to at the moment, Sonic gently moved Chip out of the way, to the direction of the teapot.

"So how do we stop this Dark Gaia and put the world back together?" Tails asked.

Professor Pickle, who had been pacing the floor since he started his explanation, turned around to face Tails.

"Luckily, Dark Gaia has yet to be fully reborn," he said. "We most likely have Dr. Eggman's premature wake-up call to thank for that."

Professor Pickle looked at the documents. Sonic watched him, wondering. If he was a geology professor, he probably saw documents like this all of the time, Sonic thought. The professor had probably never considered that anything that a document listed as a worldwide disaster would happen. He wondered if the professor hoped it would never happen again.

"If we act now," Professor Pickle finished. "We may be able to restore the planet by returning power to the Chaos Emeralds."

Sonic pulled out the powerless Chaos Emerald he had been holding on to. He had almost forgotten about the Chaos Emeralds in the panic of traveling to Spagonia, and then to Mazuri, to find the professor.

"Sonic," Professor Pickle said, causing Sonic to look up. "You must travel to each of the temples listed in the Gaia Manuscripts. The planet's power will restore the Chaos Emeralds, and in turn the Chaos Emeralds will restore the planet and help it heal naturally."

Sonic could not help but be reminded again of Chaos, who had been neutralized once the negative powers it had absorbed from the Chaos Emeralds had been combated with the positive energy from the emeralds that Sonic had embodied.

"_Each of the temples listed in the Gaia Manuscripts…" _Sonic peered at the map. At first it only appeared to be a mass of hieroglyphics, illustrations, and images that had taken place in a time that Sonic could not access, that he could not understand. Looking closer, as he began to notice small details within the sketches, he saw the roof of a temple he instantly recognized. He had seen in the night before, contrasting from Eggman's headquarters because it did not gleam…

"I think I know where the first temple is," Sonic said.


	10. Chapter 10

He, Tails and Chip flew back to Mazuri by morning. Their timing was perfect. The village they had gone to the night before was disrupted by a swarm of Eggman's robots, looming threateningly over them. The villagers would not stand any of it, least of all Eggman's attempts to simultaneously coerce them into submitting to his will while condescending to them.

"You see," he explained, "if you just tell me the location of your temple, I won't have to do anything nasty."

"We're not telling you anything!" A young child screamed, throwing a pebble at the doctor and his ship, much to the surprise and silent approval of his elders. Eggman flung his head back, shocked at the impact of the pebble. He raised his head, his frustration doubling.

The villagers, sensing his mounting anger and being familiar with his trigger-happy tendencies, stepped back, shielding the younger residents.

"That gash in the earth is only going to get bigger until you tell me where your temple of Ga…"

Eggman stopped, struck dumb as blue streaked his vision, destroying every one of his robots before he had time to blink.

"Wh—urt?" he fumbled, unable to take it in, "Sonic!"

"Yo Eggman!" Sonic said brightly, after making an impeccable landing, it was pretty good to him, anyway, "thanks for that little skydiving adventure the other day!"

Sonic realized it was the first time that he had spoken with Eggman face to face since that night on the carrier. What Sonic wouldn't give to show Eggman all of the perks of his "festive" new look, but taunting him would work nicely for the moment.

"I should have known you would still be alive, you stubborn little hedgehog!" Eggman shouted.

_No thanks to that energy you shot me with. _Sonic thought, realizing that his body was able to undergo a lot, but not something as draining as falling thousands of feet from the sky. Sonic started. He had landed from that unhurt, didn't he? How the hell did he do that? He strained to remember something. But something _had_ stopped him before he fell to the ground, right? There was no way he could have…

He heard the footsteps of the villagers behind him, and Sonic cut his thoughts short. He could go back to them later, for now, Eggman…

"What are you doing out here?" Sonic asked.

Eggman dismissed Sonic and Chip with a wave of his hand. "I see no reason to tell you!" he sneered. "In any case, I'm busy. Farewell!" Eggman pulled a lever, and his mini Egg-ship began to rise.

Chip lurched forward, but Sonic pulled him back. "Wha- how-? Hey! That's playing dirty!" Chip stammered as the doctor flew away.

"Just ignore him," Sonic told Chip, though in some part of his mind wondered how Chip thought Eggman could deal with situations in any other way. Sonic guessed he had more experience with Eggman. Imagining what Eggman could be "busy" with did not sound appealing, but he figured that it could not have been anything that could cause immediate destruction. Having known Eggman for as long as he had, Sonic knew that Eggman would have been bursting with glee if he was about to unleash something particularly evil. He decided to go after Eggman later. For now, his priority was the people who Eggman had tried to intimidate.

"Is everyone here alright?" he asked. The villagers nodded, thanking him.

Sonic nodded in response. One of two of the villagers looked shaken, but a good majority of the crowd appeared slightly annoyed, even amused. They did not buy Eggman's attempt to threaten them.

Chip looked up at the sky, at the trail of smoke that the mini Egg-ship had left behind. "We are going after him, right Sonic?"

Sonic sighed. "You got it!" He looked at Chip. "Ready to go?"

Chip nodded.

Sonic took one last look at the villagers, grinned, and sped off, Chip trailing behind him.

The safari beyond the forest pulsated with life. Wind whistled through the brush as Sonic sped by. The bright gold of the sand, the blue of the sky. Sonic had run through a good many places. He may have ran through this area once or twice. But he had never seen it. The frustration of the previous night, his own exhaustion faded, becoming the dust he trailed behind him. This was why he needed to run, to explore the world. He needed to feel the life around him. To become part of it. To live it.

He glanced to his right and saw a giraffe walking by, its long neck perched high in the air. Sonic looked at the creature with a new sense of wonder. What was it like to have a long neck like that? How did it seem so normal after all the abnormal things that had been happening? Well, Sonic thought with a grin, Eggman could not destroy everything.

It took a few miles and a breath-taking stream of landscape before he reached a bridge. The wooden platform stretched for miles. What caused Sonic to stop was not the bridge, but Eggman's robot. The robot hovered in the air, pincers sticking out of the front. Eggman and his mini egg-ship floated beside it.

Chip looked at Sonic, then looked at the dazzling purple creation.

"Is that…"

"Yeah," Sonic answered, leaning against one of the wooden poles that served as the entrance to the bridge, "that's him."

Sonic pushed himself away from the pole, getting an idea.

"Let's run," he said, "and they'll follow us. Since they're waiting for us anyway."

Sonic grinned. "I wonder how long it will take Egghead to realize that we're already here."

Chip also grinned. Sonic poised, about to run for it.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah!"

"All r"- The last of Sonic's sentence was lost as he zoomed through the bridge, passing Eggman and the robot.

Noticing the brush of wind and the hedgehog causing it, Eggman launched the mini egg-ship and powered forward, the creature flying beside it.

While Eggman appeared to be relaxed, leaning back in his seat, his mustache flowing pleasantly in the wind, he was ready for blue heads to roll.

Sonic noticed Eggman and the robot gaining speed on him. When they started to pass him, Sonic immediately slowed down, tailing Eggman and the robot.

It took Eggman some time to realize Sonic was now the one chasing him, not the other way around. He pressed up on the breaks, causing the egg-ship and the creature to come to a skiddering halt. He turned the craft around and started to float backward, eyeing Sonic's cheeky grin warily.

"Rrgh, how'd you get here so quickly?" Eggman asked the question with such genuine bewilderment that it made Sonic grin all the more.

Sonic forced himself into focus as Eggman straightened up in his seat.

"No matter," Eggman said, "your road ends here."

Eggman and the robot suddenly dipped, nearly blocking the center of the bridge.

Sonic had to screech to a stop to prevent hitting the robot. Eggman smirked. Payback.

"Behold!" Eggman shouted, waving his arms above him. "My new power!"

The robot's pincers pulsated purple and gold. They clapped, metal clamping on metal menacingly.

"Egg Beetle, go!" Eggman shouted. He lowered the egg-ship into the cockpit of the robot.

Sonic kicked the tip of his shoe against the wooden slat. He wouldn't let Eggman surprise him like that again. Chip wheeled beside him, flashing a cocky smile that would have been more appropriate on Sonic

Sonic ran as the Egg Beetle floated backward.

For the first time since Sonic was thrown out of Eggman's carrier, Sonic felt at ease. With the exception of Chip, who flew beside him and waved his fists without doing anything, this was a normal day for him. Sonic lunged forward, using the pincers to leap to the button above the cockpit. Sonic rammed the weak spot, making sure to give another kick on the glass in front of Eggman's face for good measure. Sonic was in his element.

It didn't take long. As the pathway twisted and straightened under his feet, Sonic hit the Egg Beetle one last time, watching as the machinery crumpled inward, exploding. Eggman, using the egg-ship, flew out of the Beetle, inconsiderately leaving the mess of metal in its wake.

"Just like usual! All bark and no bite!"

Sonic grinned, basking in his gloat. It had been a hard night, didn't he deserve to celebrate crushing Eggman yet again? Rubbing it in his face? Sonic felt a small, unpleasant swoop in his stomach as he realized he had the same thought before Eggman trapped him in the egg carrier.

Sonic and Chip ran up to the charred remains of the Egg Beetle, then looked down below. The village below them was far down. There did not seem to be anyone around. They looked back up at the Egg Beetle. A wire sparked, then stopped.

"It's…not going to explode, is it?" Chip asked nervously, peering behind Sonic's shoulder.

Sonic walked to the Egg Beetle. He cautiously reached one hand, touching the robot's cooling surface. He then walked around it, occasionally kicking loose parts and examining the wires. He learned how to check for explosives or an unstable robot from Tails. It had not been the first time Eggman had put a bomb inside of a robot, or had made a robot so badly that it exploded, causing more damage than it had when it was active.

After a few minutes, he looked up and shook his head.

"I don't think so."

Sonic and Chip moved remains out of the main path of the bridge.

"That should be good," Sonic said, wiping his forehead. "I'll ask Tails about maybe moving this stuff someplace else."

Chip nodded.

Sonic looked ahead. The multicolored cloth overhead, which had only appeared in sparse parts of the bridge, was now becoming more and more apparent? Something about the cloths and the bridge looked familiar, like he had seen it on a certain map.

Sonic grinned.

"We're almost at the end of the bridge!" he said. Chip looked at him, confused.

"Let's go!" Sonic started to run. Shrugging, Chip trailed behind him.


	11. Chapter 11

** Just a s/o to you guys! Thank you so much for reading! I've had so much fun writing this, and I hope you have had just as much fun reading it. If you have any questions or want to share your thoughts, drop a review! Holoska's coming up in this chapter (hey, spoiler alert!) which is probably my favorite hub world in the game. Lemme know if I do it justice!

It was the hottest part of the day, and the sun beat overhead when Sonic and Chip arrived at the end of the bridge, red-faced and sweaty.

A cascade of cloths and rope hung from the trees, contrasting with the earth-colored temple. Chip's eyes widened with realization. He grinned. Sonic looked at him, also grinning.

"Yeah!" they high-fived, then jumped from the bridge onto the ground, where they ran into the temple.

The temple was darker and strangely cooler than the world outside. Sonic and Chip stepped toward the temple's center. The lights glowing above them gave the temple a greenish tinge. Sonic pulled out a colorless Chaos Emerald, feeling the smooth surface on his hand. What did Tails say about what to do with the Emerald?

Just put it in the center. Sonic stopped as they reached the center of the temple. A small platform was at the center, green light creating shadows on the unadorned wall.

Sonic and Chip looked at each other. It was good to know, after this endless activity, that they were finally doing something to stop the turmoil Eggman had caused.

Sonic stepped gingerly onto the platform, took the emerald, and placed it in the hallow indentation in the middle of the platform. The emerald fit perfectly. Sonic moved back as green light flooded the emerald and shot up into the air. It disappeared as quickly as it came. Suddenly, the temple began to shake.

_Oh crap, _Sonic thought, simultaneously looking for something to hold onto and an exit route. _Tails or Professor Pickle didn't tell us about this._

The earthquake also stopped quickly, and from what Sonic could see, it didn't look like the temple was going to collapse on them at any second.

Sonic caught his breath, then looked up to see Chip with his hand outstretched. Laughing, Sonic and Chip gave a high five.

"YOU GUYS DID IT!" the voice, already loud enough, sounded even louder bouncing off of the walls of the temple.

_Good grief, Tails. _Sonic turned around to see Tails flying toward him, the Miles Electric in hand. He walked over to listen, trying not to look too freaked out.

"A piece of the planet has already been put back together!" Sonic and Chip craned over Tails' shoulder to look. The image looked like it was taken from a satellite in space. Sonic wondered if it was the same satellite where the two workers he met were in. A good chuck of the planet moved slowly toward the earth's center, dispelling the purple light surrounded that part of the earth's surface. The footage was on a loop, the piece continuously reattaching itself to the earth. That must have been where the earthquake came from.

"All we need to do now is locate the other temples and put the rest of the Chaos Emeralds there! The power of the emeralds should take out any power that creature Eggman woke up has." Tails words ran together, his voice shaking with excitement.

_Shouldn't be too hard to do. _Sonic thought. He felt as elated as Tails, but smiled wryly. All he had was Eggman at his tail, Chip and his memory thing, and the fact that he blew up into a hairy mass of fur and claws every 12 hours to contend with. Then again, what good was an adventure without any quirks?

Plus, Sonic thought about watching the sun rise over the windmill in Apotos, running through Mazuri's landscape, meeting Professor Pickle. This was only the beginning. He would have a lot more things to remember before this was over.

"Sounds like a good excuse to see the world," he said.

Sonic told Tails about the Egg Beetle on the bridge. Tails took Sonic and Chip on the Tornado, but when they flew over the part of the bridge the robot was at, they saw the charred ground and faintly smelled smoke, but the pieces were gone.

"Do you think Eggman came by and took them?" Tails said, looking worried.

"Dunno," Sonic said. "Never saw Eggman as the conserving type."

Once they looked around a bit more and checked on the villagers again to make sure they were OK (the gatekeeper was in much better spirits, and much less creepy than when Sonic and Chip met him), they set off on the Tornado.

Rather than stop back at Spagonia, Professor Pickle sent Tails to drop Sonic and Chip off in Holoska to reach the next temple. Holoska was tricky, Tails explained. The temple was in a remote area, which made flying a plane and landing a plane hard to do. They would have to land in a mini airport instead, which was a good distance away from the temple. Tails would park on the landing strip and stay in nearby lodging. Sonic and Chip would go to the temple, drop off the emerald, and come back. If they needed any help, they could call Tails and he would use a snowmobile one of the locals would have ("with some extra modifications" Tails added) and he would reach them wherever they were (the communication devices also worked anywhere, thanks Tails).

As Sonic climbed on the back of the plane, Tails tossed a large, round object to Sonic. Sonic caught it, realizing the object was a balled-up blanket, gray with stripes.

"What's this for?"

"So you don't freeze. It gets chilly up there."

The trip to Holoska took longer than the trip to Spagonia or Mazuri. Sonic watched the sky, tapping his finger across the tail of the plane. He wasn't down on the idea of transforming in midair. Even after hours stretched by, even as it grew colder and the ground below them became white with snow and ice, he didn't feel the sensation in his stomach once.

As the plane got close to landing, Sonic tapped on the glass.

"How come the sun hasn't set?"

"Holoska's getting close to their summer," Tails explained. "There are some nights, but they only last a few hours. Once summer hits in full force in Holoska, it's daytime 24 hours a day."

Sonic laughed. "Cool," he said. "OK if we come back in a few days?"

Tails laughed. Chip had fallen asleep, wrappers of snacks Tails had given him scattered around him.

Tails landed on the strip. Tails and Chip stepped out of the plane, and Sonic stepped down from the back.

Tails handed Sonic a bag of supplies. Sonic kept the blanket around his shoulder, not feeling the cold enough to use it.

"You have a couple more hours till sunset," Tail said. "You have a way to go before you reach the temple, so it might take a few days." Tails took a communication device (or C.D., as he called it), handed it to Sonic and looked at him sternly. "Don't lose this, if you need any help, call me up and I'll be there."

"You got it!" Sonic said, feeling strangely cheerful despite the fact that he had not slept since they left Spagonia.

Tails wrapped his arms and his tails around his body and shivered. He stared at Sonic, eyes narrowed.

"How are you not cold?" he said, his voice muffled awe and jealousy.

Sonic shrugged. It was a benefit of having the world's best circulation. He had to be in the stratosphere or shot with an ice beam from one of Eggman's robots before he shivered (or became a block of ice. Sometimes the latter came first).

"Alright, go!" Tails gestured to the great open, where the horizon was only touched by a series of distant mountains.

"On it!" Sonic grinned. Chip gave a weak, sleepy smile, and the two ran off.

The traction on the snow was better than Sonic thought it would be. The landscape stretched for miles. The only thing beside the snow was a purple aura-ed crevice, stretching for miles across the snow to Sonic's right like a scar. Chip was quiet. Sonic didn't feel like talking either. How many continents had they been on in the last few days? They were in Apotos, then they went to Spagonia, then to Mazuri, then back to Spagonia, back to Mazuri, and now to Holoska. Sonic's mind spun. That was three continents in three days. And they had only gotten one temple out of seven.

And the weather, Sonic looked down at his shoes. Just twelve hours ago he was getting sand in his shoes, now it was snow. How much difference could you get?

Something flitted in the corner of Sonic's eye, then stopped. Sonic also stopped, turning around and running back as he realized Chip had stopped flying, holding his head in his hands.

"Hey, you OK?"

"Yeah," Chip said, his voice wobbly. "'m dizzy."

Sonic thought about it. Had he gotten sick on the plane? He looked OK when they got off.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. Another possible option, especially for Chip.

Chip shook his head slowly, then more certainly. "No," he looked up, his voice still sounded weak. "I'm fine."

Sonic looked at him. "OK, if you need to stop, let me know, and we can take a break."

Sonic and Chip started running again. Sonic purposely ran slower to put less strain on Chip as he flew. It wasn't long before he heard Chip faintly call out "Sonic" and heard coughing.

Sonic stopped. "Man."

Chip was shivering uncontrollably, his entire body drooping, even his wings.

"You don't look so good."

Sonic's mind raced. Did Tails pack medical supplies in the bag? What if this was worse than an empty stomach?

Standing out in the snowy wilderness probably wasn't the best place to answer these questions. He spotted some caves to his left as they were running. There should be one close by.

"Hey," Sonic said to Chip, who was too miserable to open his eyes. "Let's"

Sonic suddenly found his face inches away from the snow. Claws ravaged his insides. He yelled, feeling himself transform. He barely noticed that it had started to get dark. Transforming took less time than it usually did. His body seemed to know there was an emergency and accelerated the process. _That's one thing the dark energy did right._

He stood up, as though nothing had happened. "Let's get you out of the snow."

Sonic and Chip walked slowly to the nearest cave. Sonic let Chip fly in front of him so he wouldn't be blown back by the icy winds.

They reached a cave and walked inside. It was easy to see in the cave, even before Sonic pulled out a flashlight from the bag. It didn't think anything of it until sometime later. They reached a corner and sat against the wall, but not before checking to make sure there were no wild animals or dark creatures.

Chip's coughing shook his entire body. Even though they had gotten out of the wind, he shivered.

Being careful not to scratch his face, Sonic felt Chip's small forehead with his hand. Chip was burning up. He droopily flew toward Sonic and rested his body on Sonic's massive shoulder.

Sonic carefully opened Tails' bag, finding the bag difficult to navigate with his large claws and nine inch nails.

He found a small packet of medicine with "fever reducer" scrawled on the top. There was a note inside from Tails.

"I couldn't find an exact match of Chip's species, but this is the medicine's lowest dose. It is used for Chihuahuas and has no documented side effects."

Sonic gulped, feeling uneasy. He wasn't accustomed to this sort of thing. He had taken care of Tails once or twice when he was sick, but he always had quick access to a pharmacy in Station Square, and Tails had written down the exact medicine and dosage. They also hadn't been stranded in a totally different continent, hundreds of miles from a pharmacy.

He nudged his shoulder. "Chip?" he whispered.

Chip nestled deeper into Sonic's shoulder, giving a long sigh. Sonic realized Chip had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Sonic didn't want to wake him up. He leaned his head against the wall, wondering what to do now. Was Chip warm? Would he get cold later in the night? He saw the gray blanket Tails had given him next to the bag. Sonic reached for it, making sure not to shift the shoulder Chip was sleeping on. It wasn't hard, considering Sonic's arm could stretch the length of the cave if he wanted it to.

Sonic took the blanket and threw it awkwardly over his shoulder, making sure that it covered Chip.

Sonic sat that way for the rest of the night, listening for Chip in case he woke up. Sonic hadn't realized he had dozed off until he had transformed back to himself. For one sickening moment, Chip slept in midair, then fell.

_Dammit! _Using his lightning-quick reflexes, Sonic caught Chip with his hands.

"Sorry about that," he whispered.

Chip mumbled something and wrapped himself tighter in the blanket, continuing to sleep. Sonic looked at clock on the C.D. It had only been five hours. How was it that he had already transformed? Sonic then remembered what Tails said. The nights were shorter here than other places.

They sat for another hour, Chip sleeping on Sonic's lap until he woke up, slowly.

Sonic waited until Chip was fully awake, stretching and rubbing his eyes.

"Morning!"

Chip looked up, surprised to not see Sonic in his nighttime form.

"How'er you feeling?"

"I feel…" Chip stood up, examining his wings. "Better. Yeah, I feel"- he stopped to cough. Sonic winced. It sounded like whatever he had went to his lungs.

Sonic used a few fingers to feel Chip's forehead. He no longer felt like he had a fever.

"We'll stay here for a few hours and then we'll keep going. We're not far from the village Tails was talking about. We'll go slow and stop for the night once we reach the village." He thought up the plan while Chip slept.

"I'm ready to go now!" Chip said, grabbing the blanket and starting to fly up.

"Wait!" Sonic said. He gently pulled Chip back. He wasn't going to send Chip into a relapse. They had some time to rest. "The sun isn't even completely up yet."

Chip's eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah, how did you transform then?" Sonic scowled, annoyed that Chip saw through his idea.

"I'll be OK. I know! I'll ride in the bag." Chip shoved the blanket into the bag and crawled inside.

Sonic sighed. "All right, just don't get out of it. And when you need a break, tell me!"

"Got it, Sonic!"

Sonic lugged the bag and the flashlight and went outside. Sonic found a pair of sunglasses and put them on, the glare from the sun on the ice hurting his eyes.

Sonic called Tails on the C.D. Tails told Sonic to only give Chip the fever reducer if the fever came back. He thought keeping Chip in the bag was a good idea and told him to drink plenty of fluids, which were also in the bag.

Feeling better about Chip, and ready to find out what was ahead, Sonic set off. He started off the day taking it slow, listening closely in case Chip said anything. After listening to a few hours of Chip calling non-emergency sound bites such as "Whoa, Sonic! This cookie is the size of my entire face." Or "I counted six sandwiches in here, Sonic. Oh wait, never mind. There's five now," Sonic listened less closely. No longer were they in the flat, endlessly expanse of snow. Now, glaciers popped into view. Blindingly bright by the sun, water not frozen splashed cold and deep blue. Sonic ran as fast as he could, enjoying the wind on his face, exhilarated by the additional speed the slick of the ice gave him. He found several of Eggman's robots toppling over the edges of the glaciers by the sonic boom he caused. Well, guess Eggman had robots everywhere, even in this part of the world.

Never having seen a place less populated, or feeling more free, he sped through, his "woo hoos" echoing through the icy landscape. Except the place wasn't dead. He found that out after the ground became too icy to run on. After slipping for the sixth time, he spotted the bobsled. He hadn't ever tried it out before, but why not try it now?

The bobsled barely needed his help. It slid instantly, terrifically fast on the ice. Chip clutched onto the edge of the bag, peeking out. Sonic lifted his arms over his head. "Wooo!"

He stopped once they got near a cliff, not because he was afraid, but because he knew he had to jump off. The bobsled reached the edge and Sonic jumped, clutching the bag to his chest as he rolled in a ball and homed to nearby ground. The glaciers were now behind them. More expanses of snow met them, except Sonic could see tall grasses in the far distance. That must be where the village was. Taking several deep breaths, seeing his breath as vapor in the air, he set off running.

Sonic had noticed the small, sore knot in the back of his throat when he woke up and had transformed. His throat became sorer as the day went on. He also noticed something off about his body temperature. It wasn't as cold as it was yesterday, but somehow, he felt the cold weather more. It _got _to him more.

_I swear to God, if I'm getting sick… _Like his perfect circulation, Sonic was fortunately endowed with an incredible immune system. He recovered from wounds quickly and illness was a rare occasion, if non-existent. When was the last time he had gotten sick? There was that one time when he met Sharah, but that was months ago…

_Don't fail me now, body. _The temple was so close. He couldn't stop now. Now that Chip was OK, Sonic just needed to pull through until that second emerald was safe inside the temple. Maybe he could sleep it off on the way back to Spagonia and ask Tails for whatever herb stuff Tails used for his immune system.

The long, thin masses of grass, which were like specks a few hours ago, were now close enough for Sonic to reach out and touch. Sonic stopped, taking the electronic map Tails had given him and he calculated where they needed to go. Feeling Sonic stop, Chip popped out of the bag, his cheeks full of his third sandwich.

"Whoa," Chip said, looking at the grasses. His small voice echoed in the silent world they were in. "this is really…" he paused trying to think of the right word. He thought about it for another minute, then forgot about it, deciding to ask instead: "where do we go now?"

Sonic responded by sneezing violently. He wiped his streaming nose on his arm, coughing. _Shit._

"We're going to go straight," he sniffed. "We'll be at the temple by night."

Chip puffed up, looking determined. "OK!" he said. Suddenly becoming more subdued, he looked over nervously at Sonic, who was coughing again.

"Are you OK?" Chip asked.

Sonic nodded, sniffed, thumbs up. "I'm fine," he said, silently loathing his congested sounding voice. "Ready to go?"

"Yep!" Chip zipped back into the bag. Sonic heard crumpling in the bag as Chip made himself comfortable.

"Alright." Sonic made his way out of the expansive, silent wilderness into the more closed in, but no less mysterious entrance to the village. He turned toward Chip in the bag. "Leave me a sandwich in there, would you?"


	12. Chapter 12

By the time Sonic saw the first igloo, cloth covering the outside and the entrance, Sonic felt like he could crawl into it, wrap himself in Tails' blanket, and sleep for a week. There was a fireball in his throat every time he swallowed. He felt, at some point during the day, his brain had inexplicably been replaced by cotton, making him feel just as fuzzyheaded. They were at the outskirts of the village now. The temple was on the other side, which meant they would have to cross the village first.

Feeling Chip nestle in the bag, Sonic held the handle of the bag closer to his side and walked, navigating the snow with his shoes. His shoes crunching on the snow was the only sound they could hear. No one else was around.

Sonic coughed again, his throat burning. That was weird, he thought. Normally the sore throat went away once the congestion set in.

He held the electronic map in his hands and looked through it. The temple, a periwinkle blip on the screen, was at the topmost part of the screen. They just needed to keep walking north. No big deal.

Everything in his body said otherwise. His chest felt heavy, a weird feeling for himself, especially since he wasn't in the nighttime form. He swallowed constantly, but it wasn't enough to soothe his throat. After his twenty-seventh coughing fit, he decided enough was enough. Slowing down next to patches of grasses and blocks of ice, Sonic tentatively reached inside of the bag.

"Sorry, Chip."

Sonic fished until he found the medicine pack. Pulling it out of the bag, he blearily tried to find some lozenges. He didn't want any medicine that would knock him out. Sonic was keen in staying on the alert, though at this point, putting one foot in front of the other while looking through the pack was proving to be a more difficult task than he had anticipated.

The moment he realized that he was having trouble reading the labels because the sun was disappearing, Sonic felt the uneasy sensation in his stomach. Just in time, he leaped into the grasses. He threw the bag on the ground next to him and crouched on the ground. New skin burst from his shivering frame. A howl ripped from his lungs mid-cough. Pain blinded his senses. Lack of air sent him into a panic. Sonic choked, feeling his throat burning and nausea coming in waves. Once Sonic was able to breathe, he tried to inhale and exhale evenly, putting as little force on his throat or stomach as possible to avoid losing the sandwich he had eaten ten minutes ago.

He groaned. He hadn't expected it to become night so quickly. It was hard enough navigating this body when he had everything going for him, but now he had to lumber around with a chest that felt like someone had thrown a one hundred pound weight at it and a throbbing headache.

"That was rough," he said aloud.

He didn't notice that Chip was watching him until he turned around. Chip had flown out of the bag, hid behind it, and now flew out from behind it and stepped tentatively toward him, being careful not to touch his bare feet on the snow.

"Are you OK?"

Sonic looked at him. It was easier to put on a brave face for Chip when it was just a cold. He didn't want how he felt now to bring Chip down with him, but he couldn't pretend that he didn't feel terrible.

"That was a rough transformation," Sonic said, his hoarse voice sounding more strained due to his throat. "And I don't feel so great."

Chip nodded, seeming to understand.

"What are we going to do?"

Sonic considered, but his brain felt like it was wading in slow motion.

"The temple is north," he began. "We might not get there before the morning, but we should try to get as close as possible."

_And where are you going to stay for the night? _The question popped in Sonic's mind. They had to talk with people from Mazuri to find the gate when he was in his nighttime form, but Sonic wanted to avoid scaring anyone if he didn't have to. Maybe they would find another cave.

"I'll leave it to you, Sonic!" Chip said, coughing and flying upward with his wings.

Sonic nodded, stood up, unsteadily, and grabbed the bag from the ground. "Sorry about that landing earlier," he said.

They walked on. The sky grew darker, and the igloos and the blocks of ice around them turned black. The air became frigid, slicing Sonic's lungs like a knife every time he breathed. Chip alternated between staying in the bag and crouching behind Sonic's shoulder, using Sonic's large frame as a barrier against the wind.

Sonic felt closed inside of his head, as though there was a barrier between himself and everything around him. His ears were clogged, his head hurt, and he was certain he had a fever. Gritting his teeth to keep from shivering, he looked ahead to see if they made progress. He could no longer see the village. Grasses, dark masses were around them.

Sonic fumbled for the electric map. He pulled it out, scanning it. The florescent glare of the map blinked once, then went out. Sonic tapped the map, but it remained blank.

"C'mon…" he muttered. He pressed the map as hard as his nails allowed him. Nothing.

Sonic pulled out the C.D. The screen, which normally lit up with the clock, was as blank and faceless as the electric map. His mind spun woozily. Was this because of the temple? Why…?

"What's going on?" Chip whispered, coughing, noticing Sonic stop. Sonic swayed, trying to stay in place.

"The electric map and the C.D. stopped working," Sonic said.

Saying it out loud, the whole situation seemed ridiculous. They were in the middle of nowhere. They didn't have any contact with the outside world. The village could be miles away. They could no longer reach Tails, and between the two of them, Sonic was pretty sure he and Chip had already coughed out a lung.

Sonic looked up, seeing nothing but shadows. "I wonder if it's because of the t"—

He slammed against a tree. Coughing and he couldn't stop. Trying to inhale with nothing reaching his lungs. Gasping. His lungs and chest weighed him to the ground. Bark scratched his claw as he sank down. Eyes watered. Head revolving. It was a minute before air rasped into his lungs. He clutched the ground, wheezing.

Chip watched his from inside of the bag, too scared to speak.

Sonic finally lifted his head. He took the bag and stood up, trying not to breathe too deeply.

"Sonic?" Chip came out of the bag. His voice squeaked.

Sonic looked ahead, feeling too sick to process what just happened.

"'m fine," he said.

He stumbled forward. He could breathe, but he never felt so tired before. It was everything he could do to keep his body from the snow-covered ground.

"Sonic!"

Sonic heard his name and swayed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a glimmer of light.

He didn't remember anything after that.

Sonic returned to consciousness. He noticed that something that felt like a blanket had been placed over him. Every muscle ached when he tried to move. He perceived light across his closed eyelids, and thought it must be sometime during the day. How long had he been out? Where was he anyway?

Finding that his eyes were capable of movement, unlike the rest of his body, Sonic opened his eyes, and found that a pair of inquisitive brown eyes stared back into his. Sonic blinked. The young girl whom the brown eyes belonged had a round face and black hair that fell to her chin. She did not look afraid, which caused Sonic to assume that he had transformed back to his normal self.

Sonic suddenly felt a flash of guilt, which he couldn't understand. How could he have hurt someone he had never met? They continued to look at each other. The girl did not turn her head, or break eye contact with him. Sonic, unable to move, also remained still. A memory of the previous night came to him. No longer having the energy to propel his enormous weight forward, Sonic had let himself fall. As he went down, his head and shoulders made contact with a pile of snow. Twigs scratched his face as he landed on the ground. He vaguely recalled cursing himself as, of all of the places he could have fallen, he had to crush a kid's snowman…

"Sorry about your snowman," he whispered, surprised by how hoarse his voice sounded. The girl seemed to understand, giving him a shy grin. Sonic noticed that one of her front teeth was missing. His throat hurt and he needed to cough, but he didn't want to startle the girl or scare her away. She continued to look at him with her shy grin until a voice called for her at the other end of the room.

"Marketa!" her mother chided Marketa for the umpteenth time that day, continuing to speak to her in their native language. Sonic, unable to keep back from coughing, did not hear what she said.

"Oh," the woman said, noticing that Sonic had woken up. She whispered something to the young girl. Marketa walked uncertainly to Sonic, and was suddenly shy.

"Would you like something to drink?"

Sonic considered. "Yes, please."

The girl grinned, all shyness vanished, and she scampered back to her mom, telling her what he had said. The mother gave Sonic a warm smile. Sonic smiled back and sat up, finding he was somewhat less sore than he had been.

They brought him something in an enormous clay bowl a few minutes later, steam rising from it. Sonic took a sip. The broth was earthy and strong, and soothed his throat. Sonic lowered the bowl to his lap, and suddenly jumped as he had completely forgotten about something, something which caused him to feel even worse than the memory of the snowman.

"Is Chip OK?" Marketa and her mother stared at him, bewildered. Sonic, nervous, but also realizing that not everyone knew that the flying Chihuahua with a green amulet around his neck had a name, described Chip's appearance to them.

At that moment, an elderly woman who appeared to be Marketa's grandmother walked into the room. Upon hearing Sonic's description, Marketa laughed and the two women exchanged knowing looks.

"Yes," Marketa's mother replied, looking as though she was trying not to laugh. "He…"

"He ate four whole bowls of soup! We told him to stop because we needed to save some for you," Marketa explained, giggling.

Sonic scowled. _That sounds like Chip_, he thought. He suddenly grew worried. Were they eating the family out of their house and home? Did the family have enough food for themselves?

"We only said that so he wouldn't get a stomachache. There is plenty of soup left," Marketa's mother said. Sonic sighed in relief. He suddenly noticed a cot across from his own. A stack of bowls lay on the floor beside it. Chip was sitting cross-legged, staring resolutely into the bowl, taking small sips as though to preserve every drop. Chip noticed Sonic looking at him, brightened, and flew to him.

"Isn't this soup great, Sonic?" he said, taking another sip. He turned to look at Sonic, concerned. "Are you OK?"

Sonic nodded. "I'm OK."

"He told us that you were hurt," Marketa's mother explained. Sonic looked at Chip, embarrassed but grateful.

"Thanks, Chip." He then looked at the three women watching them. "Thank you," he said, meaning every word, "for taking us in."

"You are welcome," Marketa's mother said. The grandmother nodded. "My mother," Marketa's mother continued, "does not speak English." Sonic nodded in understanding.

"When we bring you in last night, you looked…" she trailed off. Sonic felt awkward, unsure of how to explain his nocturnal transformation to them. But she did not press further, to Sonic's relief. Marketa's mother spoke again, after a silence fell between them.

"Are you," she began, looking at Sonic and Chip, "the ones who will save the world?"

Sonic and Chip exchanged glances, realizing how important it was for them to find the temple. They nodded.

The three women looked at Sonic and Chip without speaking. Finally, Marketa's mother said: "Thank you."

Sonic and Chip nodded again in reply. The grandmother rose and took Sonic and Chip's empty bowls.

"More soup?" Marketa's mother asked.

"No, thanks," Sonic replied, glad he could talk without coughing. Chip hesitated for a moment, then seemed to decide against it. He slumped down and patted his stomach contentedly.

"Nope."

Each of the women and Marketa smiled at Sonic and Chip in turn, and left the room.

Sonic noticed that the furs that covered the walls turned from tan to brown, meaning that night was approaching. He had sat up while eating the soup, but he now decided to relax, laying down while propping his upper body with his arm. Chip sat at the end of Sonic's cot, playing with his wings and occasionally stretching his feet. After a while, Sonic leaned over.

"Chip?" he whispered, "you awake?"

"Yeah." Sonic heard Chip shuffle on the cot.

"Let's leave at nightfall, OK?"

"OK," Chip replied. "The temple is in the center of Holska, right?"

Sonic paused. His head still fuzzy, he wondered if the electric map was working again. "Yeah."

"Hope we're close," Chip remarked, creating a burrow at the groove made by Sonic's left foot.

Sonic nodded. He hoped so too. Looking at the walls again, he suddenly had a thought.

"Hey, Chip?"

"Yeah Sonic?"

"Make sure I don't do anything when I…" he trailed off. Even talking about the transformation was painful.

"OK," Chip responded, needing no explanation. He burrowed deeper in the groove he created and curled up.

Sonic, eyeing the darkening walls warily, lay down and tried to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

It wasn't long after the sun set and they left the igloo that Sonic transformed. He went into a coughing fit and felt weak and shivery when he stood up, but it was a much smoother transformation than it had been the night before.

The map glowed to the touch, and the periwinkle spot on the map was closer than it had been the night before. Their close proximity to the temple became more apparent when the dark creatures they had seen in Apotos and Mazuri popped onto the landscape.

Sonic and Chip had to travel on the outskirts of the village to reach the area surrounding the temple. Aside from the creatures, the area looked like it had not been inhabited in years. Ice created a thick wall on the doors, and broken bridges were crusted over with frost.

Save for their footsteps and the footsteps of the creatures, it was completely quiet. Sonic navigated the icy floor, making sure what he was stepping on was solid. The last thing he wanted to do was to break the ice and hurt himself or Chip. They came upon a group of the creatures, glowing purple against the black landscape. Sonic swung his fists, taking out most of them. He turned his torso to throw a left hook when he hit something that made him jump back, massaging his bruised shoulder. The skin beneath his fur stung. Sonic wondered if he hit a block of ice, but when he turned to find out, he realized that the sensation wasn't felt due to the cold, but to heat.

A small, circular robot stumbled backward after Sonic had bumped against it. Sonic saw flames puttering out of the robot's center. The robot could shoot fire. Sonic looked up, wondering how many more weird objects he would come across in the next few weeks. Looking ahead and seeing a doorway covered in ice, Sonic had an idea. Chip watched in confusion as Sonic picked up the robot, carried it awkwardly to the front of the door, and put it down. The robot sprouted fire, melting the excess ice from the door. Sonic was at least glad his numbing fists wouldn't have to break the ice. Chip grinned in understanding, and the two walked through the door.

Sonic slipped. He righted himself, feeling surprised.

"I'm wearing cleats," he said hoarsely, looking at the shoes that always appeared on his feet when he turned into his nighttime form. "Why am I..."

He took another step, slipped, and fell on his back. The path, which was level when Sonic and Chip left Marketa's igloo, turned sharply downward. Limbs flailing and feeling stupider by the second, Sonic slid down the path, unable to stop himself until he reached the bottom. Chip flew behind him. Through gritted teeth, Sonic wished again that the purple aura of destruction had bestowed him with wings instead of his massive body and stretchy arms. And it wouldn't be the last time.

Through the glow given off by the growing number of creatures they encountered, Sonic and Chip could see the outline of the temple. It took crossing a few bridges, climbing up an icy wall, and driving through dozens more creatures until they reached the temple's towering entrance. Thinking ahead, Sonic had taken a flame-shooting robot and lugged it to the entrance, praying that the robot wouldn't burn him alive.

Sonic and Chip waited patiently (somewhat) as the robot melted the last of the ice from the doorway. Sonic walked forward and tested the door. It creaked open.

"Alright," Sonic whispered, peering inside. "I think we're good."

They turned and looked at the robot, which was still facing the door. The robot, as though it noticed it was being looked at, turned toward them and spat a stream of fire. Sonic and Chip leaped away just in time. Sonic, feeling the heat on his left cheek and smelling burnt fur, felt his annoyance with the night so far reach its breaking point. He stretched out his fist and smashed the robot.

Sonic stood and looked at the robot, breathing heavily. He could feel Chip looking at him. _Well, that was necessary, _he thought sarcastically. He squirmed inwardly. When had he ever done that? Did he think he could smash anything or anyone if they made him angry enough? Wouldn't that be something Eggman would do?

"I shouldn't have done that," Sonic said.

They looked at the robot's shattered remains for another minute, then entered the temple.

Though they were out of the wind, the temple felt colder inside than it did outside. It was as though the decades of neglect had caused the cold air to seep into the walls and floors, chilling everything in between.

Sonic became keenly aware, inside of the temple, how frequently he sniffed and coughed, and how loudly it echoed in the temple. He saw a platform similar to the one they had put the Chaos Emerald into at the temple in Mazuri. Sonic and Chip walked up to the platform. Taking out an emerald, Sonic placed it on the platform, and was less surprised than the last time when the temple started to shake. It was only when the temple continued shaking, even after the light had disappeared from the emerald, and Sonic could see the emerald's success from the C.D.'s screen recording the satellite footage of the earth from space, that Sonic began to feel uneasy.

"What's going on?" Chip asked, voice quavering.

"I don't know," Sonic said, eyes darting across the room, trying to notice anything unusual. "It sounds like it's coming from outside that wall." He pointed to the right.

They stepped tentatively from the platform and made their way across the temple to a door at the wall. Sonic pushed the door open. Blue and white light flashed. Sonic covered his eyes with his hand. Chip dove behind Sonic. Once Sonic's eyes adjusted to the light, he looked ahead.

There was a monster outside of the temple. Dragon-like, it threw its long neck back and roared. Enormous pieces of ice lay around it. The small earthquake that occurred when the piece of the world came back together might have awakened the creature. Blue and white light streamed into the temple. Sonic wondered if it was kin to the creatures that came from the dark energy. Though a shade of blue, veins of purple ran through its face and head.

"Dark Moray," Chip whispered. Sonic looked at him.

"What?"

The creature roared again, causing Sonic to run forward. He wasn't going to stand by. He didn't know what the creature could do. It already caused an earthquake, and he didn't trust anything that resembled the dark creatures. Chip hung back, and slowly flew forward as Sonic reached the platform the monster was on.

The monster turned in its direction and roared. Opening its mouth, it shot out gusts of air that froze into ice. Sonic leaped out of the way on all fours. Sonic hid behind one of the pillars of ice the monster had shot until the monster turned its back to him. Noticing an opportunity, Sonic crept forward, getting closer to the monster until something darted below him out of the corner of his eye. Looking down, he saw another dragon head emerge from a door in the wall lunging for his face.

Sonic yelped and stumbled off the platform. Sonic simultaneously saw the head of the monster on top of the platform and the head of the monster ducking back into the door on the wall.

_Am I losing my mind? _Sonic thought, head reeling. _I'm fighting a freaking Medusa… what did Chip call it again? How did he even know its name in the…_

Sonic saw the monster turn toward him and felt the breath it blew on him, but it was too late. He froze in place. Sonic had experienced this before with Eggman's robots. He pressed his body against the ice until it shattered, which took surprisingly quick due to his nighttime form. He stumbled back from the impact of breaking through the ice, bumping into something. The object in question turned out to be a metal canister. Sonic could feel the canister's chill and wondered if it contained ice.

"Try throwing it into the monster's mouth!" Chip shouted. Sonic realized Chip's idea could work, if it accomplished what Sonic hoped it would. He turned to Chip and gave him a thumbs up.

He picked up the canister, becoming vividly reminded of the fire-breathing robot, and aimed. The monster swung its neck, turning around. Sonic could see its luminous blue eyes. He threw. The canister landed in the monster's mouth. The canister exploded and the monster froze, its head and neck becoming crystalized in ice. Sonic ran toward the creature, found a weak spot in a glowing area of the creature's back, and hit it until the monster broke through the ice.

It took a couple more canisters to both the main Moray and the other heads below the platform before the monster disappeared. As Sonic trudged around the platform and picked up canisters, he vaguely remembered a similar strategy he had used with some canisters and Chaos 6 back when Eggman thought it was a good idea to feed a creature he was barely familiar with limitless power.

Sonic and Chip hung back and watched as the creature's head lowered to the ground and disappeared in a puff of dark smoke. Sonic searched the now empty platform, uneasy that something that large and that solid was made up of energy that had the potential to disappear without leaving a trace of itself behind it.

They stood in silence until the sky turned gray and the sun began to rise over the glaciers. Looking down, Sonic realized that the C.D. was glowing. He pulled it out and realized that Tails left a message saying he had their coordinates and would reach them with his snow mobile in a half an hour. "That's two down and five more to go!" Sonic smiled tiredly at Tails' enthusiasm. He knew they made progress, but it would take a month of sleep to process it.

Like the nighttime transformation, turning back to himself was pretty painless. It was only after he transformed that he realized how tired he was. His throat had stopped hurting and he wasn't coughing as often, but true to experience, his illness traveled up to his head and nose. He had a headache and was so congested he could barely breathe through his nose. Groaning, he carefully took the gray blanket Tails had given him and wrapped it around his shoulders.

Chip flew around, distracting himself by pulling objects out of the bag and either examining them or eating them. Sonic looked up, then smiled as he saw a small, yellow vehicle come into view. It stopped in front of them, letting Sonic and Chip climb inside. Sonic and Chip sat in the back. Sonic looked dazedly around. The interior was cozy, and was larger inside than it looked from the outside.

"Great job, guys!" Tails said cheerfully as they climbed in. "I left as soon as I saw the footage from the satellite that a piece of the earth came back together. I hope I didn't make you guys wait too long."

"It was perfect timing," Sonic said, adjusting himself on the seat and sniffing, "thanks, Tails!"

Tails turned around when he heard Sonic's voice.

"Are you sick?" he asked.

"He caught what I had," Chip responded promptly, coughing. "Sonic passed out, though. I didn't do that."

Sonic turned sharply toward Chip, glaring.

"Chip…" Sonic said through gritted teeth.

Tails stared at both of them, looking shocked and a little angry. "And neither of you contacted me?"

Sonic explained that the C.D. stopped working the night before.

"It wouldn't have been the weather," Tails said, thinking aloud. "I programed it to work in sub-zero temperatures. Maybe it was from the energy that broke the planet apart. We had the blackout when the earth first broke apart, it could make sense that the level of output from the energy would interfere with technology."

He looked at them, looking more concerned now than angry. "I should have thought about that when I programed the machines. I shouldn't have put you guys in that kind of danger, and I will make sure it won't happen again."

Sonic looked at Tails incredulously. Was he really blaming himself for the fact that he had passed out last night? Sonic knew how passionate Tails was about his inventions and about them, and Sonic didn't want Tails to feel or carry the weight that he had somehow failed them.

"We wouldn't be here without you," Sonic said, looking at Tails so he would know he meant every word. "We wouldn't have found the temple without the map, and the bag was a lifesaver. That energy would mess anything up, look at what it's done to me." Chip laughed. Tails smiled wryly.

"Seriously," Sonic continued. "It's not"- he sneezed. "Your fault." Sneezed again, wiped his nose with his arm.

He saw Tails' worried expression and felt a wave of embarrassment. Telling Tails that his inventions were amazing and that they were fine while he was sick and spraying germs everywhere made what he said less effective than he would have liked. Sonic began to feel hot, the vehicle becoming too cramped. He was tired of being awake. He was tired of being sick, and he started to resent that he had to reassure Tails while he could barely lift his head up, which made him start to feel guilty. At this point, he would gladly take the strongest medicine Tails had and conk out.

"Thanks, Sonic," Tails said. Sonic looked at him. Tails' eyes didn't have any guilt behind them, and he didn't sound like he was trying to humor Sonic or make him feel better. He genuinely looked reassured.

"Here." Tails pulled two objects up beside him and handed them back to Chip and Sonic. "These have tea in them. I put some snacks in the boxes beside your seat, and there are some tissues and cough drops near the windows."

Sonic took the thermos from Tails and grabbed a few tissues from the box. He blew his nose and took a sip of the tea. The warmth of the tea (peppermint by the taste of it) made him feel sleepy and his headache ebbed away. He looked at Tails, certain at that moment there was no better person who existed in the world.

"Thank you," he said, sounding both grateful and pathetically congested.

"Don't mention it," Tails said, smiling as Chip took out a protein bar and started eating it, giving Tails a thumbs up in thanks. He opened a compartment above him and pulled out a mask.

"No offense," he laughed, "but I'm don't want to catch what you both have."

"None taken," Sonic laughed back as Tails put on the mask.

Tails started the vehicle and drove back to the mini airport. Sonic took a few more sips of the tea and felt himself relax. He closed his eyes, feeling the smooth motion of the vehicle against the snow, and fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

As Tails drove the snow mobile back to the airport, Sonic, through the type of sleep that can only come through days of sleep deprivation and an illness, thought about what had happened in the past few days. Snatches of memory pieced themselves like the parts of the earth they had put back together. The first night he transformed into his night form in Apotos, glimpsing the bright, shining sun in Mazuri. Professor Pickle offering them chamomile while soft rays came through the draped windows. That rush when he went through the mist in Apotos, feeling completely invincible.

"I call that stuff Dark Gaia force," Chip had said that night. "If you walk through it, it can make you crazy powerful."

_Dark Gaia…_

When Sonic woke up, the snow mobile had stopped. It took Sonic a moment to notice the lack of motion and the bursts of cold air. Tails opened the door beside him and turned to look at them.

"We're here," Tails said, his voice muffled through the mask. "You ready to go?"

Sonic nodded, unsure if he was even still in his body. The world around him felt warm, fuzzed.

Keeping the blanket wrapped over his shoulders, he got out of the mobile, bracing himself against the wind, and stumbled toward the plane. Not one of his more glamorous moments.

He couldn't stay awake long enough to ride the tail of the plane, so he sat in the extra seat Tails had installed in the plane for Professor Pickle. He fell asleep again as the Tornado took off and didn't wake up until they had landed in Spagonia.

Sonic dimly overheard Tails and Professor Pickle decide to stay at the university an extra day before setting off for the next temple. Sonic couldn't register it, only staying awake long enough to fall into the bed at an empty dormitory Professor Pickle had directed him to, and having the world disappear again a third time in sleep.

When Sonic woke up, the sun was shining through the window. If he had transformed during the night, he didn't feel it. He got out of bed, making sure to fold the blankets, and walked out into the hallway. He, Chip and Tails had passed by the cafeteria the first time they had gone to the university, and Sonic went there now to get something to eat. He tried to avoid any groups of students or employees. It was one of the rare times where Sonic felt like keeping to himself.

After lunch, Sonic slowly made his way to Professor Pickle's office. He found the professor inside, scribbling something down on a pad of paper on his desk. When he heard Sonic knock, he craned his head in Sonic's direction. Sonic couldn't see Professor Pickle's eyes due to the professor's thick eyebrows, but he saw the professor's smile, and Professor Pickle waved his hand to indicate that Sonic come in. Sonic walked in, the first thing meeting his eye was the couch, sunlight streaming on it. Sonic, suddenly feeling tired, wished he hadn't folded up the blankets on the dorm room bed earlier.

"Hello," Professor Pickle said as Sonic came into the room. "How are you feeling, my boy?"

"I'm still kind of tired," Sonic said. "But I feel better."

"I am quite glad you were all all right," the professor said. "It is important to take care of yourself while all of this is taking place. Tails gave me some supplements for my immune system, and I must say they are working quite well."

Sonic smiled. That sounded like something Tails would do. He knew he would probably be inundated with supplements the next time he and Tails met up.

"I may have to give some of my supplements to my assistant," Professor Pickle continued, a worried frown crossing his face, "he was acting rather odd the night before."

Sonic stared at the professor, wondering what he meant.

Professor Pickle looked up, the worried expression remaining until he turned toward the hedgehog.

"I suppose you are wondering what we will be doing going forward."

Sonic nodded. He was ready to take on anything, though he would have to pump himself up with caffeine first.

"There's a temple located at the center of this village," Professor Pickle began. Sonic's head shot up. There was a temple in Spagonia?

"You just need to bring the emerald in your possession to the temple."

Something like adrenaline shot through him. He smiled. That wouldn't be so difficult.

"Can I do it tonight?" Sonic asked.

Professor Pickle nodded. "Of course you can, my boy." He smiled a little before he kept speaking. "Only remember to take care of yourself, like I said before."

Sonic nodded. He wasn't going to risk repeating what happened to him in Holoska.

"I will!"

Sonic was about to leave the office, but stopped and turned around.

"Have you seen Tails around?"

"He came by earlier today," Professor Pickle said. "I believe he and Chip went into the village this afternoon."

Sonic nodded. "Gotcha!" As he turned to look at the professor, he noticed a concerned expression crossing Professor Pickle's face. He wondered if he should ask if something was wrong, but decided against pressing him.

"Thanks Professor!"

"Not at all, lad!" Professor Pickle said. Sonic left the office, feeling much more energetic than he had been earlier in the day.

It was late afternoon when Sonic set outside the university into the village. He decided to take it slow, so he walked rather than ran through the streets. Sunlight and warmth hung around him like a comfortable blanket. It was a nice change to the harsh weather in Holoska. He noticed for the first time, despite the damage the energy had caused to some of the roads and buildings, how pleasant the area was.

He saw Chip first. Flying from one side of the street to the other, he waved and sped toward Sonic when he saw him.

"Hey Sonic!" Chip said.

"Hey Chip!" They high-fived.

"What's up?"

"Not much. Jus' flying around," Chip said absently, his arms hanging lazily as he swung in the air.

"Have you seen Tails anywhere?"

"We got sandwiches at that really good café we went to before, but I haven't seen him since then."

Sonic nodded. As they stood to the side of the road, Sonic explained to Chip about what Professor Pickle told him about the temple being in the village.

"Woow! Really?" Chip's eyes widened. "I think I might know where it is!"

"Really?! Where?"

"There's a building with a gold top on the other side of the village. I think it's there!"

Sonic grinned. "Sounds easy enough! Wanna find Tails and go there tonight?"

Chip laughed. "Yeah!"

He and Chip started walking toward the other side of the village. Sonic grinned, feeling like laughing. This was so easy.

Only…

He started to notice the sun setting, and something inside him clenched with apprehension. Sonic wasn't sure why. He wasn't a stranger to the transformations at this point. He knew what he was getting into, nor did he see tonight as being any different. Why did he feel something like panic?

He and Chip continued to walk through the village, not seeing any sign of Tails. Sonic realized how slow-going it was walking through the village rather than running. He couldn't see the temple anywhere.

His uneasiness, this weird, panicky feeling attached to him like a weight. It traveled from his chest to his stomach. It deepened. Something in his body didn't feel right, and it wasn't from the illness. It was only when Sonic looked up that he realized the sun was setting.

Sonic, at the last second, found an abandoned-looking alleyway and hid inside of it to transform. Once he transformed, Sonic was surprised how much better he felt. He looked down and saw cracks on the road filled with purple energy. Sonic's mood changed slightly. This purple energy was running through the entire world, had caused it to split apart. It was pretty ominous to look at.

A window opened up above the alleyway, and a man leaned out, muttering something in Italian. Sonic assumed the man heard him howl as he transformed. He dove behind a dumpster so the man couldn't see him.

"What's going on?" Chip asked, squished against Sonic's elbow. Sonic almost forgot Chip was next to him. He relaxed his arm so he didn't suffocate Chip. He pointed toward the man, making sure the man couldn't see his finger.

The man looked around again, paused, then backed into the house, closing the window. Sonic tentatively crept out from behind the dumpster. Chip followed. Chip opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to change his mind and closed it.

Walking out of the alleyway, Sonic realized why he felt that panic about going to the temple. It was the first time they had been in a city since he started transforming. Apotos didn't count, since everybody had been down by the ocean when he found Tails. Holoska was practically uninhabited, except for the village where the family who took him in lived. Mazuri was a small village, yet even that felt weird. Sonic still remembered the comment from the woman about his fingernails.

Sonic was a little wary of people seeing him after he turned into whatever this was. They were freaked out enough over the world splitting apart. His lovely appearance wouldn't help matters much. He didn't want to make anyone feel more scared than they were already.

Sonic couldn't remember where they walked from, so he picked the road that looked less inhabited. Stars spotted the sky by the time Sonic and Chip walked to the end of the street. Sonic paused, suddenly getting the strange, instinctual rush he had gotten in Apotos. Something told him he had to be on the alert. Chip looked at Sonic, noticing his fur bristling, then looked around. They had walked to a narrow street corner, surrounded by pots and brick walls. It was a tight fit. Sonic almost took up either side of the street. They slowed to a stop as Sonic listened. His ears picked up the electrical hum of the streetlamps and the wind brushing through the street, but he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Was he just being paranoid? It wasn't late now, but it would be late if they took any more time finding the temple.

He and Chip started to move forward when Sonic saw a purple streak out of the corner of his eye. He jumped and turned around, seeing four dark creatures, glowing with energy, surrounding them. Sonic lunged toward one, but knocked into a pot instead. Sonic extended his arm to regain his balance. It slammed against the wall.

Grimacing in pain, Sonic knelt down, keeping his eyes on the creatures. It was too narrow here. It wouldn't have been a problem normally, he could have just jumped against the walls if he had to, but he couldn't do that now, in this form. He thought about getting the creatures to go somewhere else, but he realized this was the best fighting place he could get. There didn't seem to be anyone anywhere.

Sonic ran forward, aiming with his fist. He stretched, taking out one of the creatures, who disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Feeling more confident, Sonic aimed for a second creature. Sonic suddenly turned around as a third creature lunged for his head. Sonic jumped out of the way just in time, but not before he stumbled, slamming into one of the walls with his head. Now feeling woozy on top of mounting rage, he threw out both fists, trying to hit the three creatures as many times as he could reach.

Chip watched from above, using his wings to keep him off the ground. Sonic felt like he was getting hit as many times as he hit the creatures. What made it worse was the realization that he was hurting himself, being too large to fit on the street.

He finally gave one last swing, and the final creature disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sonic stepped back, looking. Something felt unfinished. Sonic hadn't felt that before when he defeated the creatures. The creatures were gone, but Sonic wasn't convinced they had disappeared. The eerie feeling didn't help his mood. Bruised and feeling confined by the walls, Sonic motioned to Chip, and they walked back in the direction that they had come from. Sonic looked around wearily as they kept walking. They still hadn't found the temple yet. Great.

They turned to a street that was more brightly lit. The scenery was warm. Brick covered the streets and the walls of the shops on either side. Old fashioned lamps hung from the buildings. Baskets with flowers hung underneath the windows. It was like something out of a painting.

Sonic felt somewhat calmer. At least he could move around without knocking into something.

Wait, he spoke too soon.

"I foound you, Sonic!"

Before Sonic could react, he felt something hit his waist. Sonic stumbled back, his mind numb with surprise. _What was Amy doing here? _Amy lived in Station Square. Tails also lived far away from Spagonia, but he at least had a plane.

"I've been looking for you forever!"

Sonic felt Amy's head on his chest. He wasn't sure how to react. Not that he wasn't used to Amy glomping him, just not halfway across the world.

"H-hey, lemme go!" Despite it feeling weird she was here, it also felt nice to have something normal happen over the past week. Having Amy give him a bone-crushing hug and cheerfully gush out her hellos was like seeing Tails setting up the Tornado before they flew to Mazuri. Sonic didn't look for the familiar. He got bored when things settled into too much of a routine, but considering the past week, it was kind of nice to forget for a moment that the world was the absolute farthest it could be from normal.

"You're crazy if you think you can get away from Amy Rose, and…" Amy paused. She opened her eyes. Sonic looked at her. In the 30 seconds that she met and hugged him, she had not opened her eyes once. She had no idea what happened to him. What he looked like.

Amy's eyes widened. She stepped back.

"Who are you?" Amy asked, looking right at him.

Sonic couldn't answer. He saw the sudden lack of recognition in her eyes, and it hit him harder than he thought it would.

Looking genuinely embarrassed, and sort of like she wanted to crawl into the earth, she threw her hands in the air, then put her hand on Sonic shoulder, or what she could reach of it. Sonic thought she meant it to be nice, but she was so embarrassed she nearly pushed him, Sonic stumbled comically back. Chip looked from Sonic to Amy, taking it all in.

"Oh my gosh," Amy began, "I am SO sorry!"

She paused, collected herself. "I just completely mistook you for someone else!"

Amy turned around, mind reeling. "That is so strange," she said to herself. Strange, of course, in that she wanted to hide in one of the pots and never come out again. "I could have sworn it was him."

She turned back around and looked at him. He was a foot taller, twice than, maybe more, wider. His fur was gray. Amy caught a tinge of purple in it. He had fangs, not the cocky smirk she was familiar with. How could she have thought it was Sonic? There was nothing about him that remotely resembled him.

Only…

She looked at his eyes. Darker shade of green. Something about them made her want to say something else, but she decided to leave. She didn't want to humiliate him anymore than she already had.

"Again, I'm really sorry."

Sonic felt like he was out of his body. It was weird to hear someone he knew so well speak to him like a stranger. It was weird that he couldn't respond, couldn't open his mouth and say he was actually Sonic; he looked this way because Eggman royally screwed him over.

"See you later," he heard Amy say. She started to run. Sonic reached out his hand to stop her. She was already gone.

Chip looked from Amy back to Sonic, flitting next to him.

"Well that was weird!" he said, sounding way more cheerful than the situation warranted. "How come that girl didn't know you were you, Sonic?"

Sonic couldn't answer him. The words he wanted to say to Amy felt stuck in his mouth. He walked on, feeling each bruise he had gotten from bumping into the pots and the walls, feeling each word he couldn't say. Amy's question popped into his mind.

Who was he? Was he even himself anymore?

He forgot about everything for a moment. The street he was walking on, Chip trying to get his attention. He felt a sense of disconnection, weakness, of more shame than he ever felt before.

Would he always be a monster like this? Would he always feel like he was in the way?


	15. Chapter 15

* Sorry for the delay on this, guys. There might be more delays on the story as I ease into going back to school full-time, but I'll try to write and post a few chapters before then.

Tails Is FLUFFY: I incorporated what you said about the light in the temple, and how it can transform Sonic to and from the Werehog form. Hope you like the final result!

* * *

"Sonic!"

"Hey, Sonic!?"

"Sooonnnic?"

Sonic ignored Chip, continuing to walk down the road, head down.

"H-hey, listen," Chip flew in front of Sonic.

Sonic looked up, but didn't stop walking.

"You only look really scary!"

This made Sonic stop. He looked at Chip.

"Well, um, you know"— Chip began, taking Sonic's expression for confusion. Chip tentatively opened his mouth, two fangs appearing from either side of his mouth. "These guys."

Sonic looked down, kept walking, wasn't even going to ask how the hell Chip got those fangs in the first place.

Feeling more flustered, more concerned for Sonic, who he never saw that sad before, Chip flew to catch up to him.

"I-I mean, inside you're the same as ever. I guarantee it, OK?" Chip looked at Sonic, pleadingly. "Soniic, cheer up!"

Sonic continued to walk.

Chip didn't know what to do. Comforting the ice cream vendor had been easier than this.

Wait a second…

"Chocolate!" Chip pulled a bar of chocolate he stashed away from the university's dining hall. There was still a lot left, too.

"Want some chocolate?"

Sonic kept walking. Chip looked after him. He decided to let Sonic sort this out on his own. Feeling worried, Chip sped up after him.

* * *

"Hey Sonic? This isn't about what I said earlier."

Sonic looked up, feeling a little dazed. They were on a different street, and it looked darker than it had been earlier. How long had they been walking?

"I see the temple."

Chip pointed straight ahead. Following where Chip was pointing, Sonic could see the rounded top of a building. Even in the dark, it looked golden.

They stepped cautiously inside. The temple felt more habited than the ones in Mazuri and Holoska. Steps echoing off the painted walls, Sonic and Chip walked toward the center of the temple. Sonic pulled out a lifeless emerald. As he reached out his hand to put the emerald inside of the small platform, his hand hit a shaft of light coming from the ceiling. Sonic didn't bother to look up, figuring the temple had electricity or something since it looked less ancient than the other temples.

When he looked down at his hand, it had transformed from the massive gray claw to his peach colored, gloved arm.

Sonic dropped the emerald, cussing.

"Wha wus…" he scrambled, picking up the emerald, hating himself for not being careful with it, checking to see if it had been broken anywhere. It was solid. He moved the emerald to his other hand. When he looked down and pulled his hand away from the light, he only saw his claw.

"Did you see that?" he asked Chip. Chip nodded, looking worried.

Sonic noticed Chip's expression. Was this a bad thing? Sonic tentatively reached his arm (the one not holding the emerald) toward the light. As soon as his hand was covered in the light, his arm returned to normal. Sonic moved his fingers, eyes widening in awe. He looked up toward the ceiling. Light was shining down from it, but Sonic couldn't see where it was coming from. The hell was this?

Sonic thought about stepping farther into the light, letting it hit his entire body, transforming him back to his old self. He decided against it, gingerly putting the emerald in the platform. They watched as the emerald rose in the air, restoring the temple, and hopefully restoring a part of the planet.

After watching the emerald for a moment, Sonic and Chip walked back through the hall.

"What do you think that light was?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know," Chip responded, still looking a little worried. About what, Sonic wasn't sure.

"There's something about it that…" Chip trailed off.

Something popped into Sonic's mind. He thought about it when he fell asleep in Tails' snow mobile in Holoska.

"Hey Chip, how did you know what the mist was called that the creatures left behind? Dark Gaia force?" Then again, how did Chip know that the monster they fought in Holoska was called Dark Moray?

Chip squinted. "I don't know," he responded.

Sonic looked at him. "Do you think it has something to do with your memories?"

"Maybe," Chip said, his voice brightening slightly. "That might also explain why I had that weird feeling when I saw the light."

"Are you worried?" Sonic asked.

"Not worried… I…I don't know." Chip looked down, his voice losing its brightness. "I don't know how it made me feel," he added in a whisper.

Sonic nodded. He understood that.

They were both silent as they walked out of the temple into the streets. It was darker outside now than it had been when they came in. It seemed quieter, too. Sonic was a little relieved. Like earlier in the day, Sonic wasn't exactly in the mood for company.

As they got closer to the university, they started to see streetlights. They also started to hear voices. At first listen, it sounded like a group of people were having a party. Sonic heard a few loud voices, some whooping. They walked closer, and Sonic's gray fur bristled at his neck.

This wasn't just a party. In normal conversation, there is a natural pause between when someone says one thing and the other person begins. The yelling, the cheering didn't have that pause. There was something affected about the voices that Sonic could not place. It made him uneasy.

Sonic and Chip reached the source of the noise and turned to their right. The group was dancing in the street. The way they moved was as affected as the way they sounded. Sonic looked up in shock. The professor's assistant, the one who Tails found when Professor Pickle was kidnapped, was moving equally jerky to the rest. Sonic felt another burst of shock as he saw that the professor's assistant was dancing with Amy.

Amy looked just as confused with the situation as Sonic felt, and her eyes were as glazed as the rest of the participants. There was something in her eyes that Sonic didn't like: resignation, a heavy-handed dizziness. She looked trapped.

"Come on, babe, let's dance the night away," the professor's assistant slurred, spinning Amy around.

Chip looked at the dancers, mouth agape. "…Is there some kind of party going on?"

Sonic shook his head. He suddenly noticed the same purple haze that was on the ice cream vendor, the gatekeeper, coming off of the dancers. This was Dark Gaia's work, whatever that was.

"No," Sonic responded. "Something's not right here."

Chip watched, his face creasing with concern. He reached down and pulled out a camera. Sonic craned his head, eyebrows arched in surprise.

Chip stared ahead, looking solemn.

"The professor guy gave this to me earlier," Chip said. "I think I need to use it."

Chip pressed flash. The landscape enveloped in light. Sonic shielded his eyes, wondering what the heck was happening. One of the purple swirls surrounding the professor's assistant burst, transforming into one of the very same creatures that Sonic fought off earlier in the night. The professor's assistant collapsed.

A few things happened that moment. Chip started flashing in earnest, glare illuminating the street in bursts. Several more creatures popped out of the swirls as several more people fell to the ground. Amy, who had possibly been spun by the professor's assistant for several minutes, continued to spin, looking dazed.

Sonic ran up and started throwing punches at the creatures. Gaia force permeated the air, and adrenaline erased the soreness he felt earlier. Sonic processed the event in flashes, similar to the ones Chip was shooting with the camera. Before he had much time to get a hold of what was happening, he punched the last creature, and it vanished in a stream of purple energy. Sonic had a feeling they were gone for good.

Some of the residents were starting to wake up, and Chip helped them get to their feet. Sonic ran to help.

He saw Amy on the ground. Her eyelids twitched, which told Sonic she wasn't unconscious.

He gently picked her up, setting her on her feet.

Amy stood, feeling unsteady for a moment, then righted herself.

Sonic watched her. He realized she had not seen him.

Sonic looked at her, making sure she was OK until she started to turn around, then he and Chip left the scene. He couldn't confirm it, but Sonic thought he saw Chip motion something to Amy before they went out of sight.

Sonic used his arms to fly above the ground, grabbing onto things until he lowered himself down.

"Man," Sonic said, catching his breath.

"There was a carnival of creeps out there," Chip said, also sounding out of breath.

Sonic smiled, starting to walk back toward the university. He felt better about things. He had defeated the creatures, put the emerald in the third temple, and made sure Amy was safe. Maybe he would try to find her tomorrow morning.

"We should probably let Professor Pickle know his assistant's problems weren't caused by not taking supplements."


	16. Chapter 16

Note: Hey guys, sorry about the wait on this one.

The language used in this chapter is from Dari, a language spoken in Afghanistan. One of my Spanish teachers spoke it, and I think it's a great language.

The scene at the end of the chapter was based from a gif by tailscore on Tumblr. It's pretty cute, and it can be checked out here: post/77700473487

And on that note, enjoy the chapter, guys!

* * *

When Sonic entered the hallway leading to Professor Pickle's office, he was surprised to see Amy also standing in the hallway.

Chip hovered awkwardly beside Sonic until he took the hint, flying out of sight.

Amy immediately rushed up to him.

"I am really sorry," Amy said, looking embarrassed. "I should have recognized you. I just talked to Tails and Professor Pickle, and they explained a bit about what happened."

Sonic nodded.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he said, not wanting to make her feel awkward.

She watched him, the same look in her eye. Sonic noticed she was looking at his eyes. Sonic wondered if they looked different in the form he was in.

"I understand why you wanted to keep out of the way," she began. "It's very much like you to want to protect…" She looked at his eyes, after looking away. "Sorry if this sounds dramatic, but you don't need to protect yourself from me."

She smiled. "I think you know what I think about you." Her mouth became a line, but she wasn't angry. She was speaking the truth, and she took that seriously.

"Do you think how you look would change that?"

Sonic looked at her, surprised. He gathered Amy liked him from the multiple times she had glomped him over the course of years, teasing that she would marry him. It was the first time she talked to him about it, standing apart in the hallway.

"It doesn't, you know?" she said.

Sonic looked at her. He noticed her spirit, something he had observed before when she spoke. She was one the strongest people he knew, not just because she could swing a hammer several times her own weight.

"You're still you," she said, "and that's not going to change, no matter how you look."

He smiled, showing her he understood and that it was all good. He opened his arms up, awkwardly. Amy walked over and wrapped her arms around him, putting her head on his chest. They hugged.

When they eased apart, Amy stepping back, Sonic gestured to the end of the hallway.

"Should we go see Professor Pickle?"

Amy laughed. "Yeah!" She wiped her eyes quickly. "Let's go."

They walked into the office. Tails and Chip were already inside, and Professor Pickle paced the floor, looking flustered. Sonic wondered if Professor Pickle knew what happened to his assistant.

Professor Pickle barely looked up when Amy and Sonic came into the office, but looked toward Chip, who still had the camera in his hands.

"It was fortunate timing to use the camera when you did," the professor said. "If you and Sonic had not stumbled upon the party, I am not sure what would have happened."

Professor Pickle ran his hand through his white hair. "I wish I had realized this would happen inevitably," he began, continuing to pace. "It certainly is logical. For an energy so powerful it could shatter earth thousands of feet into the ground, it is more than likely that the energy could negatively affect the chemicals in one's mind."

"I created a few weapons that would neutralize the energy's power in very small doses. It certainly is not enough to put the world back together, unfortunately, but it can right the negative effects of the energy from human minds. I incorporated the weapons into camera flashes, which can capture quite a few people in one area, and it does not affect the participants in any way save for a mild headache."

Sonic saw Tails' eyes widened. He looked impressed, but Sonic thought he also saw a hint of regret, that Tails had not thought of it first.

Chip looked down at the camera. "Well that's pretty cool," he said, looking up at the professor. "I guess you gave it to me at the right time."

Professor Pickle stared at Chip. Sonic could not see Professor Pickle's eyes, but something softened at the corners of his mouth. He looked touched.

"Well thank you, Chip," he replied softly. "I suppose the timing was a fortunate one in this sense."

The professor turned away as he started to speak. "I shall have to make more, but I have a few to give to residents in the village, to protect them from Dark Gaia's creatures. There does seem to be a good many of them here."

He moved, business-like to the desk and lifted a box on top of the desk to the floor. They were filled with old-fashioned cameras similar to the one Chip held in his hands.

"I will need to give one to my assistant, as well." The corner of his mouth twitched. "I was not aware he enjoyed dancing."

Amy's face reddened. Professor Pickle noticed and became genuinely embarrassed, murmuring "I do apologize" to her before turning to the podium that had the same map Sonic, Tails and Chip had seen before.

"You and Chip were able to locate the temple here?" Professor Pickle asked Sonic, who nodded.

"Very good." The professor turned back to the map and studied its dark brown parchment.

"I believe our best route is to Shamar. We can leave in the morning in order to have a good night's rest beforehand." He turned to Sonic and Chip. "How are you both feeling?"

"Much better!" Chip exclaimed. "Yeah!" Sonic added.

He did feel a lot better. Even though the adrenaline from earlier in the night had worn off, he did not feel sore, and he did not feel the same exhaustion he felt yesterday afternoon.

Professor Pickle nodded, reassured. "I will need to give my assistant the cameras to distribute, as I will be accompanying you all."

Sonic raised his eyebrows, surprised. He looked at Tails, who he found did not look as surprised as him. Professor Pickle and Tails must have already talked about it.

"I have an office in Shamar with more research that I think will be very useful as more of the temples are restored," the professor continued. He turned to look at the group in front of him, who were either sitting in chairs, leaning against a bookcase or flying to the nearest pot of tea.

"Do any of you have questions?" Sonic shifted a bit nervously, feeling as though he were in a classroom. After some silence and looking at one another, they shook their heads.

"In that case, I need to take a nightcap and get ready for bed." Professor Pickle walked over to the teapot, and Chip poured him a cup of chamomile.

Tails smiled weakly. Amy did the same, Sonic noticing she looked tired.

"Have a wonderful night," the professor said as they began to sit up. "And Amy, will the room at the end of the hall be sufficient?"

Amy nodded. "Absolutely, thank you."

Sonic, with the rest of the group, walked out of the room and headed into the dormitory where his room was.

He remembered he took off the sheets from the bed earlier in the day. He eased onto the bed, making sure it could hold his weight. He sighed, then looked at the ceiling. In a few hours they would be on their way to another continent. Sonic grinned slowly, knowing something exciting was coming around the bend.

By the morning, the group were settling in the Tornado and readying themselves for Shamar. Tails manned the pilot's seat, Amy and Chip took the first seat, Professor Pickle the second, and Sonic kicked back on the tail outside the plane, stretching his arms and feeling glad to be back in his daytime form. He was ready to go.

Tails readied the plane, they lifted off, and Sonic watched as the spacious, brick university faded to a dot on the landscape, getting lost in clouds. Shamar did not take as long to arrive at as it did to fly to Spagonia, since they were not interrupted by Eggman and his drone fleet, and it took much less time than Holoska.

Sonic felt the wind rush through his spikes. The air made him feel weightless. As the plane began to lower down, Sonic felt the change in temperature. The air became hotter, and it became harder to see. By the time Tails landed the plane on a runway in an area outside the city, the air become opaque, hazed.

Sonic jumped off the end of the plane and ran ahead, feeling sand hit the bottom of his shoes as he left the concrete runway. Everyone else stepped out, staring around them.

As Sonic ran back to meet the group, Professor Pickle was smiling pleasantly at the landscape as though he were revisiting an old friend.

"I did research here for a few years before I became a teacher," he explained. "It is rather nice to return to the place, if only not for these circumstances."

Tails, who seemed to be the only one listening with rapt attention, nodded.

Sonic looked around, seeing nothing but sand behind them and the city in front of them. He could not see any damage from Dark Gaia from this distance, but he had no doubt it affected the city.

It was difficult to see anything. The blur from the heat made the landscape in front of them wavy, and it continued as Tails parked the plane and they walked through the city to Professor Pickle's headquarters.

Sonic felt moisture sticking to his skin, similar to riding through clouds on the Tornado. He turned around and noticed Tails' fur was becoming frizzy.

As they walked closer to the city, Sonic noticed a hum that grew louder until they were in the thick of the city, its center. Men and women lined the sides and in the middle of the street, some were vendors who set up tents and canopies. People and animals were moving constantly, creating a hum that Sonic had only heard in a city like Station Square.

Sonic saw a man in a trench coat may or may not have been holding a puppet of a chao in his hand. The man, his face obscured by a hat, stared quickly away when Sonic turned to look at him.

He felt himself be nudged to the right. Looking up, Sonic realized they had made it to Professor Pickle's headquarters. They walked up the sand-colored steps into the building.

It was as humid inside as outside. Professor Pickle felt the wall to his right for a light switch. Two lights turned on, then a fan started blowing from the wall. They walked through a short hallway into Professor Pickle's office. The room was decorated in the same way as his office in Spagonia, with a desk, several bookshelves, littered with books and maps, though the furniture, with a Persian rug underneath and trinkets from the area, had a distinctly Middle-Eastern feel.

"There are a few bedrooms on the other side of the hallway," Professor Pickle said, pointing outside the door.

Sonic nodded. He was bleary-eyed from the flight, but ready to get to know the area and find the temple.

Chip immediately flew ahead, checking out the souvenirs on Professor Pickle's desk, delighted to find that one of them was a teapot shaped like a camel.

"Now, before you depart for the temple. There are a few things that you need to take with you."

Professor Pickle took a pack Tails handed to him, giving it to Sonic. Sonic opened it, peering inside and seeing a dozen brightly colored thermoses.

"Water. It is easy to become dehydrated." Sonic nodded, reaching in and taking out a tube of sun block.

"It is closer to the sun here." Professor Pickle explained. "I have a theory about this. The damage this area received from Dark Gaia has not been as dramatic as in other places. I believe the creature has some aversion to the sun, though I have not confirmed this."

Sonic nodded. He was glad to hear that one part of the world may not be as badly affected. He wondered if his nighttime form would be easier to manage.

"Come back for more water," Professor Pickle said, pointing to the large thermoses in the pack. "There is plenty here."

"Thank you," Sonic said, looking at the professor. He looked out of place in his suit, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. Yet, Professor Pickle looked alert, ready to get to work.

"So," Sonic began, looking at Chip. "Guess we better start looking for that temple, huh?"

"I have a map here," Tails said, walking up with the Miles Electric. He looked at Sonic. "I thought I could come with you, this time."

Sonic had not thought about that. At Mazuri and Holoska, Tails had to stay back with the plane. Because the plane was stored and the professor was around, Tails did not have a reason to hang back at the office.

Sonic felt himself grin. It'd be great to have Tails back.

"Of course, man," he held out his fist, and he and Tails fist-bumped. "Let's do this!"

Sonic turned to Amy. "You coming?"

Amy shook her head. "No, I'm going to help Professor Pickle look through the map and learn more about this Dark Gaia."

Professor Pickle smiled. "She said she has an interest in archeology."

Sonic looked over, perplexed, as though to say 'since when?' Amy shrugged. "I've been studying it in my free time." She explained.

Sonic felt a pang of guilt. He realized how long it had been since he talked to Amy about anything. And when was the last time he saw Knuckles? He wondered how Knuckles was taking this. Did it affect the Master Emerald in any way?

Yet, Sonic smiled, and he could not stop. Despite the long absence, he felt like he was back at home, that this was another adventure with Tails and Amy. It was weirdly comforting.

"Alright, guess we better get going," Sonic said, hiding his enthusiasm badly. Taking the pack, he turned around and walked with Tails and Chip outside.

Once they were on the street, Sonic realized how different of a place this was than they had been to before.

Spagonia and Mazuri were relatively small cities, Holoska was nearly isolated from anyone. Shamar was the opposite. They made their way through the street, following Tails' directions on the ME. It was as though they had been dropped in a place that never stopped moving. People made their way through the sanded streets, a wild dog, lean and nearly hairless, stealthily passed through.

Sonic stuck closely with Tails and Chip, not afraid of anyone, but nervous that he, Chip or Tails would be pulled away from the rush of activity. Professor Pickle was right. It did not look like the area had been as badly affected as other parts. No one seemed deterred by the streams of purple that lined the cracks in the raod

Sonic looked around. There was a shallow pool to his right, encased by sand-colored pillars. They passed by the man in the trench coat again. Sonic eyed him suspiciously. The man looked away again.

"We're almost at the temple," Tails said, after they had walked for nearly an hour.

Sonic took a thermos of water from the pack, taking a long sip. At Chip's request, they turned to a vendor on the corner, buying some food.

Sonic remembered something vaguely from the corner of his mind. He had been to this area before, though not to this city, and remembered some words for the area's language.

"Tashakor," he said slowly, making sure he was saying 'thank you,' correctly.

The man looked surprised, but responded "Qabele tashakor nest."

The sun felt hot on his skin. He wondered if he should have put on sun block before they left the office. Tails leaned up against the wall sluggishly, taking a sip of water.

"You OK?" Sonic asked. Tails looked down, defeated.

"I have too much fur," Tails groaned. "The sun is not a friend to me."

Sonic nodded. "We'll stay out of the sun," he said. "Sunset shouldn't too be long from now."

"Lamb kabobs taste the best in indirect sunlight, anyway," Chip offered randomly, downing a kabob as he spoke.

Sonic and Tails looked at each other, shrugging.

After they finished the kabobs, they went back to walking. Tails lagged behind, feeling drained from the heat. Sonic checked behind him, making sure Tails was alert, or at least not about to pass out from heat stroke.

He gave Tails a thumbs up. Tails gave a lopsided smile, returning the thumb.

The activity on the road slowed as the sun set. Tails pointed ahead of them.

"The temple's straight ahead," he said. Tails paused. "Can we take a break?"

Sonic felt like he also needed a break. They sat outside an alley and drank from the thermoses.

After they took a break, they walked up to the temple, an area people seemed to avoid, Sonic noticed. This surprised him, considering that no one in the city was doing anything else out of the ordinary. Maybe the temple was the most affected by Dark Gaia.

They reached the temple's front door, and Tails pushed the door with his hand.

"That's strange," he said, trying again. "It's locked."

"Locked?" Sonic asked, reaching to push the door with Tails. Even with both of them pushing against the heavily inscripted door, it didn't budge.

Straightening up, he, Tails and Chip looked at each other, trying to decide how to handle this new development.

"Maybe I can push it open when the moon comes up," Sonic said, stretching his arm. "You know, add in some extra poundage."

Tails looked at Sonic strangely, probably for him using the word 'poundage.' He wiped moisture from his forehead.

"Should we go back to the alley and wait, then?" Tails asked.

Sonic looked at Chip.

"You OK with that?" he asked.

"Yep," Chip nodded. He gingerly pulled out the camera, as though anticipating creatures.

It wouldn't be for another hour. They sat outside the alley, Tails fiddling with the ME while Sonic tossed ice cubes in the air for Chip to catch in his mouth.

Sonic finally transformed in the alleyway, still uncomfortable with others seeing him become his nighttime form.

He shuffled out of the alleyway, feeling hot, as though he was covered in a dozen winter coats.

"Ready to go?" Tails asked. Sonic gave the thumbs up.

"Sure am!"

They made their way to the temple. The road was nearly empty.

"Whew!" Sonic sighed noisily, looking up. "Got hot, didn't it?"

Tails looked at him, sweat sticking to his fur. "Now you know how I feel."

Sonic stared down at his gray fur. The insulation had been a boon in Holoska. Not so much in an area close to the sun. He wished he had something to shave it with.

Sonic looked at Tails, realizing that Tails had had to experience this in the middle of the day.

"Man," he said, giving Tails a sympathetic nod. "Guess so."

They kept walking toward the temple, but Sonic had troubling focusing on the road ahead. He felt like a fireball was growing in his chest and spreading to his arms, heat that he could not outrun or sweat off. He started feeling nauseated.

"Can you hold this?" he asked weakly, handing Tails the pack he was carrying. "I'll be right"-

He ducked behind a second alleyway and vomited beside a dumpster.

Tails looked in nervously, but hung back, waiting until Sonic was finished and met them outside of the alleyway.

"Are you OK?" Chip asked, peering worriedly at Sonic.

Sonic nodded. He did not feel any cooler. However, he was certain that he had nothing left in his stomach.

Tails handed him a water bottle. Sonic used some of the water to rinse his mouth then drank the rest of it.

He looked up. It was dark, but the sky had not turned black. Streetlights sparsely illuminated the road. He became intensely sensitive to each unfamiliar smell around him, and he was pretty sure he could not eat another lamb kabob anytime soon.

He managed a smile, holding out his hand and letting Tails give the pack to him. "I'm OK. Let's keep going."

They walked on. They were getting close to the temple when Sonic heard a voice. He turned around and saw two boys playing near a streetlamp and some benches made from the same sand-color material as Professor Pickle's office.

Sonic kept walking, not wanting them to see him, but Chip stopped him.

"Sonic come on, it's OK," Chip said, noticing Sonic's expression. Even when Chip used both arms to grab Sonic's arm, he could not wrap around Sonic's arm completely. "Look."

The boys already noticed him. Sonic could not tell what they thought, but they did not look like they were afraid of him.

One of the boys started jumping, still looking at him. The other boy did something closer to a march, moving his arms side to side.

Sonic watched, having no idea what they were doing. The boys still looked at him, then Sonic got it. They wanted him to jump. He jumped, softly at first, then more playfully. The boys snickered, looking at each other, then at him.

They bounced there for a minute or so, while Tails stood off to the side, confused but grinning and Chip also bounced midair.

Sonic used his arm to stretch, reaching toward the pack he had put on the ground. The boys looked at each other, watching in awe as Sonic grabbed two unused thermoses from the pack and gave it to the boys.

They grinned, then offered out their hands for a high five. Sonic gladly accepted the high fives, gave them a thumbs up. "Tashakor."

They smiled, waving as the three of them walked away.

"See, now that wasn't so bad," Chip said, flittering in front of Sonic's face. "People aren't afraid of you, because they see who you are."

Sonic grinned awkwardly, feeling the fangs he somehow developed in this form. He probably would have kept hiding if it wasn't for Chip. Maybe in the future, he did not need to hide.

"Thanks Chip," he said.

Tails looked at both of them, confused. "Am I missing something?"

"Sonic's been afraid to meet people when he looks, you know," Chip said.

Tails started, understanding. He looked at Sonic.

"You look different," Tails said, "but you act the same way. I wouldn't worry."

Sonic could not tell them how much it meant for them to be there, walking beside him, being honest about how he looked, yet showing him they were not afraid of him nor would treat him differently.

"Thanks guys," he said softly, not sure how he could put how he felt into words, but hoping words came to him.

They were now standing in front of the temple door. Sonic grinned. _Now to put this form into good use. _


End file.
